


Gaze of the Reaper

by Kira_Dattei



Series: The Deva Chronicles Universe [4]
Category: No. 6 - All Media Types, Sono Yubi Dake ga Shitte Iru | Only the Ring Finger Knows, Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Developing Relationship, Don't Have to Know the Other Canons Besides YOI, Established Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, Established Relationship, I Know It's a Crossover But Give it a Shot, M/M, Magic, Rostelecom Cup, Slow Burn Like in Canon, Supportive Victor Nikiforov, YOI Canon Compliant, Yuri!!! on Ice Centric, Yuuri Finding His Confidence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:15:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 100,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22422439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kira_Dattei/pseuds/Kira_Dattei
Summary: Core: a kernel of power that grants the person it awakens within abilities.Oni: people who use the abilities they gain from their cores to harm others.Devas: an organization of people who fight the Oni and protect civilians.Yuuri has done everything he can to ignore the core he's had for most of his life. It has nothing to do with his career in figure skating and has only been a distraction when he couldn't ignore it. But when the Devas show up at his door one day, he has to come to accept that part of himself and what it means to him and Victor.You don't have to read the other fics in the series to understand what's going on.Story is very much focused on Yuuri and Victor. The other fandoms are involved from the beginning but are supporting characters and you don't need to know their canon. YOI is the only canon I'm somewhat following.
Relationships: Fujii Wataru/Kazuki Yuuichi, Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, Nezumi/Shion (No. 6)
Series: The Deva Chronicles Universe [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1216821
Comments: 10
Kudos: 34





	1. Attention

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there everyone! if you are returning to the series because you've read any of the other fics: Welcome back! If this is your first time checking it out: welcome and thank you for giving me a shot! <3 This fic has been in the works for many months, giving me plenty of trouble but I'm extremely excited to have finished so I can finally be able to start posting.  
> A few things before we get started:  
> \- This is not a WIP. As mentioned, I have finished writing the fic and will be posting a chapter weekly on Saturdays.  
> \- While there are references to events that occurred in the first two fics of the series, I give enough details within the story so that you don't need to read those if you don't want to. Of course, I'm not going to discourage you reading them because they are pretty awesome but I know they are significantly smaller fandoms than YOI.  
> \- I will be adding a glossary of dispositions to the end note of the fic.  
> \- I tried my best to be able to open more from Yuuri or Victor's POV because I'm aware I'm already hitting on ways that will make readers back out by having it be a crossover, but it just didn't work story-wise and the story comes first. This and the beginning of chapter two are told from the perspective of other characters but it will mostly be told from Yuuri's perspective. Please give it a shot.  
> And feel free to ask any questions you may have. If it isn't me being purposefully evasive for plot reasons, I'm happy to answer.  
> Enjoy!

Yuuri had been six years old the first time he had felt his chest seize suddenly and he felt like he couldn’t breathe because of it.

Fortunately, he’d been at Minako’s practicing and she had been able to take him aside and help him calm down.

He’d never been so scared in his short life. And the longer it had continued, the more scared he’d gotten and the harder it had gotten to breathe. Even years later, he’d remembered looking around at the other students and believing he could feel their confusion as to what was wrong with him, _knew_ that they didn’t understand what there was to be wrong.

It wasn’t until he was twelve that he’d found out that the panic attack had been exacerbated by the awakening of a core centered in his heart, an Empath core so he’d actually been able to perceive the emotions of everyone around him.

Yuuri thought it hadn’t been fair that he’d been overwhelmed by emotions and that had given him a core that made him feel even more.

And the older he’d gotten, the more he wondered if there was something inherently ironic about cores. There certainly seemed to be a majority of users that considered them to be more of an inconvenience than anything.

Though he hadn’t met many people who had pursued careers that involved their cores or they weren’t even users so perhaps it was more a product of the people he tended to spend time with than a fair representation of the majority.

His own life certainly hadn’t been influenced by it in the least, which was why he had kept on pursuing his interest in figure skating instead of finding something to do with the ability to know how other people were feeling; he had enough issues with his own emotions, thank you.

So, he’d learned how to ignore it, suppress it, pretend he just didn’t feel anything from other people until it passed and he was left with only his emotions. And, eventually, he just stopped noticing. He only had to deal with processing his own emotions – which he wasn’t even all that great at – and getting through school and lessons and practice and just being a figure skater, doing what he really loved.

Most people didn’t even know he was a user. His parents and sister of course knew, Minako knew, and Phichit knew. But that was it. He hadn’t told anyone else and he was happy to keep it that way.

No one needed to expect something from him just because he was a user.

Things had been going well enough, too. He’d graduated from high school, moved to Detroit to train under a renowned coach while attending college, and had even made it to the Grand Prix Final this year.

Though that was where everything started to fall apart and he hadn’t stopped floundering in the months since.

His dog had passed away.

He’d come in last at the Grand Prix Final while competing against his idol.

He’d continued to fail until he no longer qualified for competition.

He’d started noticing flares of awareness of other people’s emotions, which he just felt was an unnecessary stressor when he really didn’t think he could handle any more. His own emotions were difficult enough to process, he didn’t need anyone else’s.

Yuuri had also noticed his sleep really starting to suffer but that was becoming its own mystery. He’d fall asleep alright but at some point through the night he’d start dreaming about people he just didn’t recognize. That may not have been too much of a big deal except that it seemed as though he couldn’t dream about anything but death and that was beyond morbid.

Yuuri wasn’t someone who really thought about that sort of thing often. Yes, he had issues with anxiety and got down on himself easily and often, but that was completely different than envisioning every minute detail of someone’s death.

And, so far, he’d only experienced that sort of thing in his sleep which naturally meant he started having difficulty falling asleep. He was just grateful that he often didn’t remember much of what he saw long after waking up.

It was all enough to make it all the more difficult to focus on his skating and train so that he felt like he could take on another season of competition.

Going home to Hasetsu once he graduated felt like the only thing that might do him some good. Staying in Detroit wasn’t helping him at all, so maybe a return to where he truly felt at ease, being surrounded by his family and close friends, would be what he needed to figure things out. And perhaps once he did, everything else would just settle as well and he’d find his way out of this well of negativity he’d ended up in.

And Yuuri’s first day back did seem to be a good indicator. Catching up on the last five years of everyone’s lives had been a balm to his anxiety of not being welcome back in their lives. On some level, he’d expected to be kept at a distance, no matter how he’d made sure he kept in contact with the people closest to him. But he’d been welcomed back and in some ways it felt like he’d never left even as it was painfully obvious that he had.

Getting back in the rink at Ice Castle had been liberating, though.

He’d missed performing when there were no stakes and minimal eyes watching. He hadn’t done that in a long time.

That had lasted all of one day when he was suddenly faced with being the center of attention because of the triplets filming him performing his idol’s Free Skate and it going viral. The stress and anxiety was back full force and now he had the added embarrassment of so many people seeing what was supposed to be a private moment and likely judging him for not being the one he’d been emulating.

It had been insult to injury when that night he’d dreamt of some unfamiliar man suffocating to death when there had seemed to be nothing wrong with him.

That had stuck with Yuuri for a few hours after he’d woken up, shaken in a way he usually wasn’t when it came to these dreams.

At least he managed to forget it when Victor Nikiforov showed up at the onsen announcing he’d be his coach.

He was never going to catch a break, Yuuri was certain.

* * *

“Agents Himura and Kaneda, you have visitors to see you,” Nezumi sent a glare toward the speaker on his desk phone, not caring that it didn’t make the announcement from the front desk go away.

After all, someone coming to see the two of them usually meant bad news and not something they wanted to deal with when they were in their best mood. For that alone he was tempted to tell the receptionist to give whoever it was the brush off, to say the agents weren’t available no matter what she’d already told them.

Because he screened everyone who came in contact with Shion, especially if they came to their office to do so, making sure that he didn’t allow any threat to just walk right up to his partner, there was no question of him having to put up with whoever it was and he just didn’t feel like entertaining today.

But then he glanced over his shoulder to see red eyes giving him a pointed look that conveyed clearly that his partner wasn’t going to agree with him.

He supposed that’s what he got for having different priorities in being here than Shion did. And having those priorities rarely line up with that of the agency they worked for was even less convenient.

The User Enforcement Agency that they worked for prioritized the safety and service of civilians, mostly users.

Shion’s priority working for the agency was to use all the skills he had at his disposal – which were admittedly numerous besides the abilities granted to him by his cores – to help as many people as he could while also making progress in the pursuit of the one Oni he’d been searching for since he was sixteen.

Nezumi’s priority was Shion, plain and simple. Shion was all that mattered and that hadn’t changed in the four years since their affinity had formed.

Nezumi sighed heavily after about a minute of them staring each other down, Shion not budging, though that wasn’t uncommon. Shion was a stubborn little shit most of the time, especially towards Nezumi. He stood from his chair, Shion having turned back toward his desk to ignore Nezumi once more. Nezumi stretched his arms over his head to alleviate the tightness in his back from sitting for so long before walking across the room to where Shion was seated. Once he was within reach, he made a point to ruffle the soft, white hair in a way he knew irritated Shion.

“Nezumi!” Shion scolded as he ducked away from his hand. “You’re really going to be difficult because I’m not letting you get away with not doing your job?”

“Why else would I give you a hard time while we’re here? You’re the one who insists on working for the U.E.A. and they aren’t allowed to remove me as your partner thanks to our wonderfully useful affinity. So, would you indulge me just this once why I should put forward any more effort than absolutely necessary?”

“Because this is all your tough guy act that you insist on maintaining and I know it,” Shion retorted before he threw a smile over his shoulder.

Nezumi shoved his hands into his pockets and exaggerated a sigh of disappointment. “Think we could work on shaving a few years off how long you’ve known me? It’s just an inconvenience at this point for you to be so confident in understanding my habits.”

No one had ever known Nezumi like Shion did and while it had been something unsettling to him at first, he’d long since come to need that closeness with someone. He only needed Shion.

That didn’t mean it didn’t make for a good enough tease.

“Sure, I guess I can alter my research priorities to focus on finding a way to break down our affinity. Perhaps that will get you the results you’re requesting.”

Nezumi’s appreciation for Shion’s sarcasm – which had barely existed when they’d first started getting to know each other – had grown over the past year as Shion continued to gain confidence in directing that sort of thing toward people besides him. And Shion was still a genuinely kind person, more on the gentle side no matter what he was capable of, so when his sarcastic side did make an appearance, people tended not to expect it.

For now though, Nezumi leaned in close, setting his chin on Shion’s shoulder so his face was close to Shion’s and enjoying the flush that spread over pale cheeks as they usually did whenever Nezumi unexpectedly made a show of their relationship. He closed the last bit of distance from Shion and brushed his lips teasingly over Shion’s left cheek, feeling out the slight difference there was between the thick line of scarring reaching beneath his eye. He then rested his right hand on Shion’s shoulder and let his fingers brush against the scar where it wound around Shion’s neck in the same soft manner, pleased with the shuddering breath Shion took in. It was easy to get Shion worked up when he paid attention to the scarring that snaked around his body.

“Would you please go see who wants to meet with us?” Shion suddenly said tersely, ducking his head away from Nezumi’s lips. Nezumi smirked with his victory and stood up straight, then headed toward the door.

Nezumi made his way toward the front desk, dragging his feet as much as he could and ignoring any other agents he passed in the hall. Luckily it wasn’t many with his and Shion’s office being in a less populated area of this level. Shion had declared shortly after they’d gone to work for the User Enforcement Agency to the ones in charge of them that it helped him concentrate to be in a quieter environment than most of the building offered. And while that wasn’t completely inaccurate, the real reason for him making a deal of it was more to do with the secret he and Nezumi were hiding from everyone in the building. So, they were in a more secluded area that gave them that privacy. It also meant that people tended to leave them alone, that on some level they were permanent outsiders no matter how many years they’d been there and had supported other agents in completing assignments.

Not that it mattered to Nezumi: he wasn’t here to make friends. He was here for Shion and that would never change. Protecting Shion and being able to take out Oni semi-regularly was why he was here.

Though he didn’t have any grand designs or pure intentions for wanting to fight against people who had chosen to use their abilities to hurt others and gain more power. He had a harsh history with Oni and he’d long ago accepted that his life was best spent standing in their way if the opportunity presented itself.

Besides, Shion was as much with the U.E.A. for protection, to keep the Oni who knew what he was capable of from learning that he was even alive. Oni tended not to be given the chance to look too closely at the ones apprehending them.

He reached the door that lead to the lobby, getting a kind smile from the receptionist, and he scanned his ID badge to release the lock on the door, opening it slowly to keep from pulling more attention than he wanted right away.

When the door was open enough for him to make a full scan of the room, he didn’t need to ask which of the dozen or so people spread throughout were there to see him.

Opening the door the rest of the way so he could step fully into view, he pushed his hand and badge back into his pocket and took on an indifferent posture with a smirk. “I must have gotten caught for all sorts of shit to get the attention of the Devas, let alone have them knocking at my work door. No subtlety whatsoever, as usual from the almighty elites of the user population,” he said mockingly, the pair of familiar faces raising from where they’d been whispering to each other in barely audible voices even for Nezumi who was used to listening.

He couldn’t help but be amused by the glare he was getting from black eyes. It had to be a record for how quickly he’d gotten a dirty look from Wataru. Usually it took a bit more sarcasm for the younger teen’s short temper to make an appearance. And being with the Devas should have mellowed him out a bit, but it seemed like he was still as impatient as when Nezumi had met him.

The wonderfully ironic part of Wataru’s irritation was that between him and his companion Yuichi, Wataru was the one Nezumi got along with better. While he didn’t mind either of them, the two younger males being very down-to-earth, for the most part level-headed, and intelligent enough that he didn’t get impatient with what they did, certain aspects of Wataru’s personality just clicked better with Nezumi. They made for good contacts within the Devas – Wataru officially a Deva and Yuichi in the same position to Wataru as Nezumi was to Shion as the one he had an affinity with – and they had a shared target amongst the Oni. But the lack of animosity between them meant that Nezumi tended to mess with them more and Wataru made for a pretty easy person to rile up. And based on how Yuichi just sat back and let it happen, he agreed with Nezumi on that.

He’d known the pair for just over a year now, he realized. Nezumi answering a call to the U.E.A. of a fight involving users, likely Oni, had put Yuichi on his radar, Shion not being present for that investigation. And then not long after there was another call that both Nezumi and Shion answered and Wataru had been on the scene that time around. They’d found out the Oni had been specifically targeting Wataru because of a core he had even though they hadn’t included that in their report, claiming Wataru had been just caught in the crossfire, Shion feeling like it was important that they let Wataru remain as superfluous as possible.

Nezumi hadn’t agreed at the time but then Wataru had come back to them to ask for help and they’d found out the exact core disposition he’d been targeted for and Nezumi had started agreeing with Shion’s decision. Now he had as much interest in watching out for Wataru as if he really was his responsibility.

He would forever blame – in about as non-serious a manner as he could – that on Shion’s influence, of helping him really see that it was okay to care about people and want to see that they were okay.

Moreover, the four of them were connected by secrecy. Both Shion and Wataru had something they were fully invested in concealing from both sides – Deva, U.E.A., and Oni – and that meant they were at the very least allies in secrecy. That was plenty for them to base a connection off of. Then add in that Shion and Nezumi had outright helped Wataru find ways of better concealing his secret and they were practically accomplices against the rules of the Devas. While Nezumi didn’t think it was illegal and certainly not something that would get any of them labelled as Oni, it would still get them a lot of negative attention if they were found out.

Before they were all packed up and shipped away to protective custody for the rest of their lives anyway.

The pair stood up, Wataru grabbing a messenger bag from the floor and slinging the strap over his head to the opposite shoulder and they approached Nezumi with nods of greeting, the two able to act more official than Nezumi while others were looking, and he stepped to the side of the door to let them pass. He followed to close the door and then stepped in front of them to guide them toward his and Shion’s office even though they had been there before plenty of times. They also knew that it was best to remain quiet until they were in the seclusion and privacy of the office.

So the trek was made in silence, all the way until Nezumi had closed the door behind them, passing by them to stand next to Shion, reaching out and brushing his hand along his partner’s shoulders to get his attention.

Shion looked up to him before turning around to face the two waiting just inside the door until he’d looked their way. Shion’s expression immediately became more excited once he saw Yuichi and Wataru and he stood to give Wataru a quick hug – who looked surprised about that – and shook Yuichi’s hand before returning to stand next to Nezumi, pushing his chair further to the side.

Yuichi backed up a bit, leaning against the wall next to the door to take a defensive position, likely because Wataru’s back was to the door; because he was a Paladin his protective instincts were stronger than anyone else’s in the room. Nezumi had some of those instincts as a Qilin, but they weren’t as strong, he was more accustomed to ignoring them, and his affinity with Shion had existed for longer.

“It’s been a while since we’ve seen you guys,” Shion started, his tone light and happy.

“Yeah, we’ve been looking for the chance to be sent this way and one finally came up,” Wataru replied. “Never would have guessed when I joined the Devas that hanging out with U.E.A. agents would be difficult to accomplish. And six months is a long time.”

Nezumi hadn’t realized that it really had been six months since they’d last seen these two. And even then, it had only been in an official capacity at the scene of an investigation so they hadn’t been able to really talk privately. The nature of their respective jobs just didn’t have them checking out the same things very often. Shion and Nezumi investigated activity of suspected new Oni to build profiles for others to work at apprehending them. Wataru was assigned to meeting with people who were suspected of awakening a rare core disposition or the manner of their core’s use being unique for the sake of all official records of abilities associated with dispositions being kept as current as possible. His place was to become a familiar face to people who might not reach out otherwise.

Nezumi thought that was wonderfully ironic because Wataru really wasn’t the most social person. Sure, he himself met both those specifications – bearing a rare core that didn’t work like the majority of other people with his disposition – but that didn’t mean he made for a comforting person to talk about it with.

But Wataru was also an Initiate ranked Deva just barely at his first year of being with the organization and so wasn’t allowed to be placed in a position that would make him face off against Oni. He had to be beyond the minimum two years with the Devas to be given the more dangerous assignments, not that Nezumi expected him to want those. Wataru may not be the pacifist that Shion was, but he’d always seemed uncomfortable with the prospect of having to use his abilities to fight. Even against Oni.

As it was, Yuichi and Wataru were in wasted positions. Between Yuichi’s raw strength as a Paladin and how Wataru’s Esper core worked, they could completely alter the struggle against the Oni for the better. And Shion knew that as well and had tried to instill the idea that Wataru and Yuichi avoiding fighting was likely a luxury they wouldn’t be enjoying for much longer, that they’d been lucky Wataru joining the Devas had at least temporarily gotten Oni off his back.

Hell, Shion had to make sure Oni thought he was dead to keep them off of his.

“I gotta say, I never would have given you a year being able to successfully fool the Devas,” Nezumi mused. And while there was some truth to that being his belief – he’d come to know how the Devas worked because of Shion once being one – but he also wanted to make sure Wataru really was doing okay and that this wasn’t an emergency visit. Both Yuichi and Wataru could keep their cool if they really needed to.

And, ultimately, Nezumi wanted Wataru to be alright. The Devas were supposed to be protection for him without requiring him to give up his livelihood, his family and friends, his home. He’d chosen this much more difficult path for a reason and Nezumi wanted to see him succeed for that, if nothing else.

For now, though, Wataru was giving Nezumi another dirty look so it was possible that he was just in a really bad mood. “And here I thought you wouldn’t find a way to make your horrible personality even worse. You’re really just turning into such a grouchy old man.”

“Watch it, kid,” Nezumi warned as Shion hid a smile behind his hand. “Two years younger than us doesn’t make that much of a difference.”

Wataru looked to Shion instead of responding to him. “How exactly did you tolerate him long enough for an affinity to form again? I know you’ve said that you get a different side of him than anyone else but I’m really starting to doubt that exists.”

Shion laughed outright at that. But then he opened his eyes and Nezumi felt the shift in his focus through their affinity, feeling Shion’s activation of his oldest core, the Clairvoyance that allowed him to see cores. He’d figured out a few months ago a way to have a touch of that core active at all times and he must have noticed something to make him put on a stronger level of vision that disposition allowed him.

“Wataru, why aren’t you concealing?” he asked, making Nezumi frown as well to hear that. “We have other Clairvoyants and a Seer working here and you know we get quarterly reports of all active Devas assigned to nearby divisions so they would all recognize you. It’s reckless of you to not be concealing at all times.”

Shion never let his own concealment lapse, even when they were safe in their own home, having long accepted that no matter how quickly he could conceal the core he was hiding, the only truly safe option was to never relax his guard. He only did when Nezumi convinced him that he needed a break to allow all his cores to behave naturally and rest his mind.

Wataru should be no different.

Wataru’s demeanor shifted at the question, becoming outright sullen and Nezumi thought the expression made him look older than they were.

Yuichi answered for Wataru though it didn’t sound like it was him sticking up for Wataru, protecting him. “They did a power limit test on him yesterday,” he explained. Shion’s expression must have taken on some panic because Yuichi rushed to add, “Just the standard annual evaluation for his records to show what fluctuations he’s had in his first year. And they were keen to get it out of the way because he’d initially registered low on the power requirements, only being accepted because it takes so little for him to use any abilities. Anyway, it’s the first one they’ve done with him and he’s still pretty low on power, his recovery slow.”

Wataru let out a heavy sigh then. “We found out through my training that my recovery from using any of my Esper core’s power is slow. It’s either the balance to it taking so little to use any ability or it’s just been influenced by the Ouroboros, which naturally doesn’t recover quickly. The average to recover full strength after using up all power of any core is twenty-four hours; mine is closer to seventy-two.”

Nezumi reached out and bumped his hand against Shion’s lower back so he knew he was talking to him. “Which do you think it is? Ouroboros or natural balance?”

Shion didn’t answer right away, thinking it over and the other three waited him out. Shion was the most knowledgeable one of them when it came to cores, possibly the most knowledgeable in the country.

“It sounds more like a matter of the Esper core taking cues from the Ouroboros core when it awakened. When looking at imaging of a core that takes a lot of power to carry out abilities, like the Esper core is supposed to, there are certain differences in how they behave when active from a core that uses power more sparingly, such as my Clairvoyant core. But studies of Chimera cores from the last few years with better imaging technology has proven that it is more common than not for a second core that awakens a minimum of a year after the first one will, for lack of a better phrasing, take lessons from the existing core. In all honesty, all three of us have cores that don’t behave in a standard manner even if we’re the only ones who really know that.” Yuichi was the only one of them who wasn’t a Chimera.

Wataru crossed his arms and looked back over to Nezumi and said, “Thanks, Nezumi, now you got him talking research. Why did you ask?”

It was mostly for show because all of them knew that Wataru wasn’t stupid and he wasn’t half-bad at research. He just had to care enough about the subject. He also liked talking to Shion about what he had learned over his years studying cores.

“Well, if you’d actually answer his question, we could move on to what you guys are actually here for,” Nezumi replied as he crossed his arms with a smirk.

Wataru rolled his black eyes and shoved his hands in his pants pockets, Nezumi catching the line of a knife running along the line of his jeans and he was a bit surprised that Wataru had taken on to concealing weapons. And, as a Deva, Wataru wasn’t allowed to carry weapons he didn’t pass a proficiency evaluation on so he knew how to use it effectively enough.

“When I hold my Ouroboros core in the discharge of my Esper core, it slows down recovery even more. I’m just lucky we don’t have anyone really good at seeing cores at the division right now or I might have gotten found out simply because I didn’t have enough discharge to actually work as a concealer.”

“It’s likely that anyone looking would simply assume it was just your Esper core. Not everyone is as good at picking up the differences as I am,” Shion said by way of easing Wataru’s obvious discomfort at the prospect of being discovered simply because he’d used up his Esper strength.

“Either way, it wasn’t until we got home and I let the Ouroboros core move away that it started regaining strength. It’s like when they’re right next to each other, the Ouroboros core just takes everything even if it’s at full capacity. It also means I’ve basically spent the past day since the evaluation with a headache. So, whenever I can let it, the Ouroboros core gets to hang out wherever it wants so the core everyone actually knows about can get back up to full strength.”

“I see,” Shion mused absently and Nezumi figured he was in for a night of Shion distracted by research. Great.

“Your own sight must be faulty: I didn’t release my control of concealing my Ouroboros until we were inside the room and the door was closed. You could give me some credit on knowing when it was okay to loosen my control,” Wataru gave an amused smile toward Shion.

“He caught it, didn’t he?” Nezumi groused back with a dramatic roll of his eyes. “You may have your tests, Deva sanctioned an all, but we’ve got Shion’s eyes. Proven reliable over a couple more years than you’ve been paying attention. Though he has taken to letting his uncentered core do some more exploring lately. Like we don’t have enough to worry about.”

“Well, he spends all his time with you. I imagine he needs as much mental stimulation as he can possibly find.”

Shion was back to covering a laugh as Nezumi gave Wataru another cold look.

“Not like you have much room to talk. I seem to recall Yuichi mentioning that you two met because you needed a tutor to pass your classes.”

Nezumi allowed a proud grin as Wataru’s cheeks flushed and he rounded on Yuichi. “Why did you think you should mention that to _Nezumi_?” Not that it mattered because Yuichi just went on looking rather pleased with himself. And Nezumi knew exactly why: Yuichi had basically set a time-delayed trap of teasing Wataru by telling Nezumi that detail. Furthermore, he’d known that Nezumi was the perfect person to give something like that to, that he was good at knowing when to use knowledge to the best effect.

When Wataru turned back toward the agents, he looked resigned with a dark scowl. “Anyway, the reason we’re here…” he grit out as he crossed his arms for a moment before seeming to pull himself back together enough to at least seem professional. “It’s about my next assignment and I’d like to ask for a favor from you guys concerning it.”

It wasn’t exactly unexpected for Wataru to say that, but it was a bit confusing considering their jobs within their respective organizations. But, no matter what he was specifically asking, it was unlikely to be anything very interesting.

Wataru reached into one of the pockets of his messenger bag and pulled out a flash drive, tossing it to Shion, who caught it and inserted it into his computer, pulling up the file on the drive. It was a simple civilian profile, the results of an initial collection of information by the Devas for Wataru to start his assignment off of.

Shion stayed hunched over to read through the information quickly before standing upright to look back at Wataru with a curious expression.

“What sort of favor? We don’t investigate cores alone. We investigate Oni activity.”

“I know it doesn’t necessarily match up to your actual jobs with the U.E.A. but this is closer to a personal request with a professional overlay. And the Deva Senior I report to is ready with an alternative if you guys can’t accept.” Wataru looked uncertain and Nezumi was reminded of how he’d been when they first met. It was strange to see that now, knowing just what Wataru had gone through to grow over the past year.

Yuichi rolled his eyes then and stepped forward as he took over explaining, apparently deciding that Wataru wasn’t going to be doing a good enough job of that today. “Just like Wataru needed to go through evaluations for the Devas, I have to complete evaluations with the Protection of the Paladins Organization; power levels, control tests, and a check of the health of our affinity. This is completed at the region’s organization headquarters and the easiest way for them to test my competence while having an affinity is to conduct the tests without the person I have an affinity with present.”

“And with your affinity beyond a year old, it’s safe for you to be separated without it potentially destabilizing the connection,” Shion finished. They had two Paladins assigned to their office of the U.E.A. and they had to complete these evaluations as well so this process wasn’t news to Nezumi and Shion.

“As an Initiate, he’s not allowed to take assignments alone and my presence, being a Paladin, fills that requirement for him so there is also that factor. Either way, it’s my first evaluation since my affinity with Wataru formed. Most Paladins don’t have affinities with people confirmed to be targeted by Oni so I’m sure you can imagine why I’d have concerns others might not,” Yuichi continued, his voice tense. “It’s somewhat bad timing but that can’t be helped, not without revealing more than we’re willing. But I can’t leave Wataru exposed and having someone with him that doesn’t understand the risk to him isn’t enough.”

Wataru spoke next, seeming to have taken a cue from Yuichi to be able to better talk about what was going on. “They would ask questions if I insisted on waiting for Yuichi instead of allowing them to just assign another available Deva,” he said. “So, do you guys think you could swing coming along at least until Yuichi finishes with his evaluation?”

“Of course we can,” Shion answered without hesitation and Nezumi rolled his eyes at how little his partner seemed to be considering how they were going to explain themselves to their own superior. Wataru had the rules of the Devas on his side for reasoning but they weren’t Devas and weren’t as restricted.

And this wasn’t their department unless this Yuuri Katsuki was attacked by an Oni or under suspicion of being an Oni himself. The fact was that checking into random people’s cores wasn’t something they were supposed to get involved with.

“Great,” Nezumi complained, laying his ire on a little thick. “And how, exactly, are we going to swing getting approved for this, Shion? Wataru isn’t the only one who has someone he has to explain his actions to.”

“Easily,” Shion replied as he leaned back against the desk and looked smug. “We’re meeting the agency requirements of training and outsourcing. We’re supposed to get a minimum of twenty-four hours of work with another department or organization to foster the working relationship we maintain, specifically with the Devas and the Protection of the Paladins Organization.”

“We reached that minimum requirement by March, Shion. Benefit of running investigations into new Oni: we’re always working with other departments.”

“But we haven’t worked much with the Devas this year. And you know the agency holds the working relationship with them as a top priority considering how we always need to be ready to back each other up. We aren’t going to get docked for working with a Deva, Nezumi, especially not Wataru and the unique nature of his disposition.”

Nezumi had to admit that was a good point. An Esper with the raw power Wataru was capable of immediately gained the attention of the User Enforcement Agency, gaining more when he’d become a Deva. All of them expected Wataru to be approached with a position with the U.E.A. once he finished his required two years with the Devas.

“That works, I guess.”

“Good. I didn’t want to know who my Deva Senior was going to try and stick with me,” Wataru said, sounding genuinely relieved.

“Aren’t you Devas supposed to be able to work well together?” Nezumi had to ask. When Shion had been a Deva, he may not have gotten along with everyone, but he’d at least worked well enough with them.

“I thought we got along because our lack of people skills lined up well enough,” Wataru declared, mocking thoughtfulness.

Nezumi looked over to Yuichi. “He’s on his game today. Is that your influence or the Devas?”

Yuichi lifted an eyebrow at him and Nezumi was reminded that the older of the two was the more intelligent just as he was better with people than any of them in the room. “Couldn’t say. Which one is responsible for Shion’s bite?”

“A little bit of both,” Nezumi replied honestly, though it was still him taking a bit more credit than he was due in this regard. Shion was more responsible than anything else for the growth he’d shown since Nezumi had met him. Shion was much more adaptable than people gave him credit for and that had been proven repeatedly to Nezumi.

“I don’t have a ‘bite’,” Shion muttered and Nezumi reached out to playfully push his hair forward into his face. “Would you stop that, Nezumi!” he exclaimed in response.

Wataru rolled his eyes but was clearly amused; he always seemed to be just a bit more serious than Nezumi thought someone his age should be. While Yuichi was definitely the more mature of the two, he at least came across as it being more natural. Wataru, on the other hand, just seemed like he didn’t even give himself a chance to enjoy things he should.

Though that was probably why Nezumi felt like he was closer to Wataru in personality. Nezumi held himself back like Wataru, just in a different manner since he usually took the dramatic route.

Wataru kept them making progress with the discussion. “Yuichi leaves tonight and I’m heading for Hasetsu in the morning. I’d like to beat him back but I don’t think it will work out that well.”

“You are in no way a teenager,” Nezumi accused with a sigh. Wataru gave him a curious look at that. “You know that it’s completely acceptable to take a little time and at least get a day of a break away from everything, right? It might just make it a bit easier to maintain the secret you’re keeping from only everyone.”

“It’s a disposition check, not a full investigation like you guys run. Those don’t take nearly as long and the Deva Senior knows that. I take too long and they’d figure something was up. If it takes a while to finish the investigation, I relay that, but sticking around just because will be easy for them to call me on.”

Shion looked back over to the screen where the profile was still displayed. “Well, we’ve got plenty to go over before we even head out so you might as well stick around.”

“Like what?” Wataru asked, genuinely confused and even Yuichi frowned in question.

“I don’t know about you but I have absolutely no idea what being a competitive figure skater entails. And even I know that this profile isn’t comprehensive.”

Wataru let out a sigh, sounding relieved. “Oh, that. Yeah, I was going to work on that on the plane but we can get it taken care of tonight. We might get a better idea of how we need to approach this. I just get the feeling that Katsuki is as used to keeping things quiet as we are.”

“I think you’re right,” Shion agreed.

Nezumi let out a heavy sigh at the prospect of finding _another_ stray to keep tabs on. Shion and Wataru were enough.


	2. Katsuki

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day in the life of a figure skater preparing for a competition...

The flight to Hasetsu wasn’t long and Shion was grateful that he and Wataru had spent the previous night looking into figure skating, Yuuri Katsuki’s history in the sport, his social media presence, and other people that they would be likely to be running into with their investigation.

Exploring social media had been strange for everyone involved, especially since they didn’t have to often but they’d learned a lot about him because of the updates about his progress given over those platforms.

As a Deva and U.E.A. agents, they actually weren’t allowed to be on social media because of the private nature of their work and needing to keep a low profile. Not that they would have accounts if they were allowed: Wataru only had a recent phone because it was given to him for work, Nezumi could barely tolerate people when he was required to, and Shion already had enough difficulty interacting with people when he had physical cues, voice tone, and body language to help him out. He needed to be able to hear and see people when he talked to them or he became nervous about misunderstanding them.

But they still had some time and so they were doing a little more exploration into Yuuri Katsuki.

They’d been looking back through Katsuki’s pages when Wataru had suddenly said, “Did you notice that he doesn’t actually post that often?” Shion looked over to the younger teen and then back to where he’d been looking at another skater’s profile, focusing on acquaintances to look for anyone who stood out.

“Really?” he prompted.

“Yeah, there’s regular updates over the past few years, but most of them are posted by his fellow skaters and not him. He’ll share events he’s competing in but nothing like regular pictures or videos. Even the video that made the rounds and got our attention on him was recorded and posted apparently without his knowledge.”

“What do you take from that?” Nezumi asked.

“That he only has it because it’s expected of him,” Wataru answered immediately so he’d already thought that far ahead when he brought it up. Considering that out of the three of them, Wataru was actually the most anti-social – because Nezumi wasn’t so much “anti-social” as he was simply an “asshole who didn’t care” – he probably hadn’t had to think hard; he was probably giving an insight that would apply to him as well. “Watch some of his interviews and he just doesn’t look comfortable. His competition performance isn’t very consistent either.”

“Says a guy that just started learning about figure skating a few hours ago.”

Wataru’s look at Nezumi was scathing and Shion rolled his eyes at the two before reaching over and taking Nezumi’s hand, holding it so he could give a warning squeeze when his partner needed to pull it back a bit. With Yuichi gone for a few hours already, Wataru was feeling the strain on his affinity connection and would likely be extremely short-tempered until they reached Hasetsu and he could get used to the difference in his awareness of the connection.

“It doesn’t take a genius to figure out when someone messes up. And I’ve been through a lot of hand-to-hand combat training and I can tell when someone isn’t comfortable with what they’re doing. He’s definitely good or he wouldn’t be competing at the events he has but he seems to struggle where other skaters I’ve watched don’t. It could have something to do with his core or it could be completely unrelated.”

Shion interjected then, catching where Wataru had left it wide open for Nezumi to tease him. “Good athletes tend to have developed strong mental discipline. They have to in order to compete at the levels they do. But then, not everyone can maintain that at all times. From what I’ve seen of other skaters compared to Katsuki, he does seem to struggle where he shouldn’t as a competitor, but that doesn’t mean the discipline isn’t there.”

“And you haven’t been able to pick anything up?” Wataru asked, Shion knowing exactly what he meant.

“Unfortunately, no. I haven’t recovered the ability to reliably see cores through pictures or video. I just can’t pick it up anymore.”

In an attack on him when he was sixteen, Shion had lost practically all his control over his Clairvoyant core, the only one he’d had at the time of the attack, and had nearly died because of it. While most of his abilities had recovered over time, a few still were out of his reach and he had in many ways stopped expecting them to return now after quite a few years with no changes in that regard. He’d developed new abilities but not regained others he’d once relied on.

Nezumi’s thumb brushed over his knuckles in a comforting touch and Shion squeezed his hand gratefully.

“Well, we do know that he at least registered as a user, probably because it’s required for him to compete, but then he never tested officially to get his disposition on record. But another Clairvoyant assigned to the division caught a hint of something in the eyes. Because of the high likelihood of anything that registers in the eyes being on the rare side, that’s enough to get them sending it my way.”

“What about you?” Nezumi asked, reminding Shion that as an Ouroboros, Wataru could actually see cores to a minor extent, barely enough to know where they were. It was necessary for that disposition and its primary function being transferring a core from one person to another.

Wataru seemed to hesitate in answering and Shion wondered if there was something about the ability the Deva wasn’t telling them. “No, I’m in the same position as Shion in this. It has to be in person for me to see anything.”

Nezumi turned to Shion with a smirk. “How did you not know that?”

Shion rolled his eyes, a habit he’d long ago picked up from Nezumi. “I don’t have more than a comprehensive understanding of Ouroboros. I didn’t want to start looking into it and have anyone ask why the sudden interest.”

“Ouroboros only need to know what’s actually in front of them. It’s common,” Wataru said. When both Shion and Nezumi gave him questioning looks, he flushed slightly even as he shrugged dismissively. “I had to know the ins and outs of all rare dispositions because of my job, even more than what they put every Initiate through. They drilled everything. I just happened to have a vested interest in understanding Ouroboros.”

Shion smiled at that. After a short silence of he and Wataru continuing to look through some more posts, Shion brought up a point he’d noticed when they’d been looking through the file the night before. “The video that got the Devas attention, it was posted a few months ago. This didn’t happen very quickly.”

Wataru shrugged easily enough. “The Devas are short-handed, not just the division but on the whole. We’re barely keeping up with investigations and apprehending and sealing Oni. And knowing that there’s an Oni out there boosting their numbers and coordinating them is terrifying. The only reason I’m even being given these assignments is because I’m not allowed to be given others for another year.”

“The Devas were short-handed when I was with them,” Shion pointed out.

“It’s gotten worse over the past few years. Applications are down at least fifty percent and only about sixty percent of applicants meet requirements to be accepted. Of that, about ten percent don’t make it through the first thirty days where they are allowed to withdraw and maybe half that reach the two-year requirement remain on after to be promoted off of Initiate. Numbers drop fast and that isn’t something that can be maintained.”

Shion thought he’d seen an increase in reports and activity from the U.E.A. but he hadn’t realized that it had gotten this dire with the Devas. He knew that the Prominents – the twelve Devas who were in charge of the entire organization – were working on new policies that would allow more freedom in who could apply to be a Deva but it was taking a long time for them to make the huge difference they needed.

“Then the Devas are in worse shape than I thought,” he confirmed aloud.

Wataru nodded. “It’s far from ideal. I’m not even planning on sticking around and I’m feeling the strain.”

Shion frowned. He’d been hoping that Wataru would remain within the Devas, risk of his secret being discovered be damned. It would do him some good and the Devas needed all the help they could get.

And, perhaps, if he was discovered, it would give the Prominents something to spur them on to realizing that not allowing Chimeras into the organization simply because they had more than one core was old-fashioned and changing that needed to be priority. Shion was as much of an example, but because the act of removing him from the Devas had already gone through it wouldn’t have the same impact.

“And what is the point in you meeting with Katsuki? If he’s been ignoring his core for so many years, why would you showing up on his doorstep make any difference?” Nezumi asked and Shion thought it was a fair question.

“Cores are commonplace to people nowadays. It’s not this fascinating thing that people are really in awe of anymore. Advances in science and our understanding of physiology, psychology, and neurobiology means that we actually understand how a core works, how it forms, how it connects with users, and how different dispositions affect a person.”

“Right, so what’s your point?” Shion squeezed at Nezumi’s hand, indicating for him to curb the attitude there. Nezumi just kept hold of Shion’s hand and shoved them both into his jacket pocket, meaning he’d be ignoring Shion even as he kept the contact.

Oh well, it wasn’t like he really listened to Shion if it wasn’t anything serious anyway.

“People don’t pay attention to things that aren’t a spectacle anymore. When was the last time something notably significant to the general population happened that involved cores, something that made people pay attention?”

Nezumi and Shion exchanged surprised looks, surprised because they’d needed that pointed out to them. And pointed out by someone who had admitted when they’d met him that he didn’t care about cores, that he’d taken a very disinterested approach to their existence even as one had been dormant inside of him.

“Latest estimates were that even though nearly sixty-five percent of the population have cores with a reasonable increase in Chimeras, only about a quarter actually pursue a career that involves their cores or even bother going through basic testing and identification of dispositions. They don’t bother keeping an updated record even though having a core can affect some medical treatment. Once they lifted the requirement to register as a user about fifty years ago, people went to the opposite extreme and the majority just don’t bother.

“But we’re the ones who actually see the consequences of that. We’re the ones that get to deal with inadequate records and go into situations blind and then we’re the only ones who know about it because our organizations don’t let the general public see the small acts we partake in to keep the large-scale from happening. Then, because people don’t see the small-scale they don’t think there is one.”

Wataru’s voice was rising, becoming emotional and Shion glanced around them to the people who were sitting closest to them to see that Wataru had gained them some attention. The teen appeared to realize that around the same time, or had seen Shion looking around, and he lowered his head as his cheeks reddened a little.

“Sorry,” he muttered. “It’s just…things have to change or we’re going to break. What’s stopping the Oni then?”

Nothing. Nothing would stop the Oni then.

The three of them _couldn’t_ be the only ones to realize that.

* * *

Yuuri was exhausted. He was tired, sore all over, his mind was racing over everything he’d worked on that day, and he just wanted to get home, eat dinner, and then settle in for the night.

He just hoped that Victor would pick up on all that enough to let him go through with that being his evening.

Victor was much more of a night owl than Yuuri was and it took him quite a bit longer to wind down after they finished training for the day than it did for Yuuri. He’d gotten better over the past few months since coming to Hasetsu about picking up when Yuuri really wasn’t feeling up for keeping up with the Russian, though, and he would usually just talk in a lower tone and not really expect Yuuri to chime in.

Victor just really liked spending time with Yuuri, as much on the ice as off.

Yuuri was still getting used to that and there were plenty of times when he just didn’t get it. Or believe it.

Yuuri stepped inside the front door of the onsen, untying and pulling off his shoes and setting them aside before heading to his room down the hall to the left to drop off his bag with his skates and quickly changing out of what he’d worn that day into more comfortable, casual pants and t-shirt before heading for the dining room. Victor should already be there, having biked ahead to let Makkachin get a good run while Yuuri jogged as usual.

He stepped around the corner, seeing Victor at the usual table closest to the kitchen where he could talk to Yuuri’s parents about how all their days had gone, Makkachin curled up around his back. There were a few other usual patrons spread out eating dinner as well as a few unfamiliar faces as Yuuri crossed the room to sit down at the table next to Victor, Makkachin immediately standing and giving Yuuri’s cheek a quick lick of greeting before plopping down next to Yuuri with his head across his lap.

“You took a little longer than usual getting back, Yuuri,” Victor observed.

“I kept a slower pace today, didn’t want to push it when we’ve still got so much work to do,” Yuuri replied as he scratched Makkachin’s head behind the ears, the dog’s tail thumping against the floor as he stretched out onto his side.

They didn’t have much time before the Rostelocom Cup and there was always work to be done on his programs. He was making progress but not enough to compete with the people he was going to face in Russia.

His mom walked out from the kitchen and set down his dinner, followed by giving Victor his, the two giving her a quick thanks before they started digging in.

His mom had almost returned to the kitchen when she turned back toward them saying, “I nearly forgot. Yuuri, there were some young men here earlier asking for you. I bet they were fans of yours and came all the way here to support you!” She finished with a wide smile, genuinely excited by the thought.

But that was just strange. “Are you sure they weren’t here for Victor? He gets visitors regularly even though they’ve slowed down since the Cup of China.”

“Don’t talk like you don’t have fans either. They’re just lucky that so many of them live here where they can see you easily,” Victor interjected, pointing his chopsticks at Yuuri accusingly.

“That’s because they live here, Victor,” Yuuri responded evenly and his mom laughed at them.

“I’m sure they were here for you. I don’t think I’ve seen them before. I told them that you were practicing and they might catch you before you settle in for the night. They’re staying here tonight but I don’t see them so they must have already turned in themselves.”

“Alright. I’ll try to catch them in the morning before we head to Ice Castle.”

“If I see them before you in the morning, I’ll let them know. You look tired. Are you going to head to bed early tonight?” His mom switched topics so quickly it was sometimes difficult to keep up with, especially when Yuuri was as tired as he was now.

“I’ll spend a few minutes in the hot springs so I don’t get too sore but then I’ll be going to bed,” Yuuri replied after a few seconds to catch up.

“We’ll spend less time on the ice tomorrow and work more on the choreography, make sure you have a day to recover from taking falls like you have the last few days,” Victor declared. They’d been spending a lot of time on the quad flip, meaning Yuuri had spent a lot of time hitting the ice.

Out of all the dispositions he could have, he thought a Regen would be the most convenient. Being able to accelerate the healing from all the bruising would be handy. But he didn’t even think there was a Regen in Hasetsu, no matter how common of a disposition it was.

There actually weren’t too many users in Hasetsu period.

Yuuri finished up his dinner quickly enough, the light meal primarily made up of cooked vegetables over rice giving him sustenance without substance, helping him keep trim and not go into his hours of inactivity with anything that would stick around bumping up his weight.

He couldn’t wait for a break in competition so he could at least have one nice big dinner and not worry about how it would affect him the next day. He wouldn’t fall into the same spiral as he did after the finals last year since he had a reason to maintain his healthy weight and figure, but one day wouldn’t kill him.

Mari had come out and sat down across from Yuuri, striking up conversation with Victor. She had likely noticed his energy level as well and was keeping Victor engaged so he wouldn’t unload on Yuuri until Victor calmed down a bit more.

After a little while of just sitting at the table petting Makkachin and listening to his sister and Victor talking, Yuuri felt like he needed to get his time in the hot springs now or he’d be falling asleep in the water and that would definitely not be to his benefit. So, he called out a quick “good night” to his parents when he brought his dishes and Victor’s back to the kitchen to be washed and gave his sister a quick hug on his way out.

He showered quickly and sunk into the hot water of the springs a few minutes later, letting out a heavy sigh of relaxation as the heat soothed his tight muscles.

Thank goodness for his parents owning an onsen and this being an option always available to him when he was home. He’d definitely missed it when he was in America.

After a few minutes, he heard the door leading to the springs open and close but Yuuri just stayed where he was, his arms crossed on the walkway surrounding the water with his head resting on his arms, his eyes closed in his relaxation.

Footsteps approached him and then slid into the water before walking closer to him and sitting down right at his side.

He angled his head toward the other person and opened his eyes a little just to double-check that it was Victor as he’d suspected, closing his eyes again when he saw he was right. Victor loved the hot springs even more than Yuuri did but he also never passed up the chance to join him in the water.

And it wasn’t even a nudity thing as far as Yuuri could tell. He’d eventually gotten used to Victor not having any hesitation in being naked in front of other people and growing up in the onsen meant that it was something Yuuri had generally gotten used to early in life. He’d only needed an adjustment period with Victor being casual about it because it was _Victor Nikiforov_ and it had taken a long time for him to be able to just be himself with the man he had idolized for so many years.

Although, now there was also the matter of the new level of their relationship that Yuuri was still getting used to, grateful that Victor at least seemed happy with whatever Yuuri was comfortable with.

For now, that meant Victor reached over to him and slid his hand down Yuuri’s arm until he could interlock his fingers with Yuuri’s, holding his hand loosely. It was comfortable.

“We’ll take it easy over the next few days, give your body a chance to recover. We can’t push it too hard and risk you getting hurt,” Victor declared casually.

“I still have a lot of work to do. I mean, not only is Yurio going to be there but so will JJ and his program is intense,” Yuuri countered. He knew he had to be careful about pushing himself too far, but he also didn’t feel like he’d reached that point yet. He knew he could safely go further.

Actually, it was strange for Victor to play it safe like this.

“You’ll do well in Russia.” Victor said it so confidently that there was no question that it was exactly what he believed of Yuuri.

“Thanks, Victor,” he said simply, his gratitude for all that Victor did for him automatic and no less genuine than it had been months ago when he first showed up in Hasetsu.

Victor slid just a bit closer and then leaned over, resting his head on Yuuri’s shoulder.

In the time since the Cup of China where Victor had kissed Yuuri after his Free Skate, this had been the sort of thing that they’d been getting used to being a part of their relationship: touching just to touch, there not having to be a reason for reaching out to each other except that they wanted to. And while Victor was certainly more comfortable about it than Yuuri was, he was getting better about it not meaning a minute of Yuuri nervously fidgeting until he got used to the contact. And that had been after the months before the Cup of China where Victor was regularly touching him, only half the time being related to coaching him.

Victor was just a very tactile person, though it had always seemed extreme with Yuuri.

And Yuuri had never been the type of person who was comfortable with physical contact. There were only a few people he didn’t get anxious about hugging and the rest of his family and friends knew that and were good about respecting it. But it was different with Victor now and he was getting to the point where he reached out for Victor much more often than he used to.

Eventually they’d kiss again, hopefully in a bit more private setting than globally broadcast television.

Yuuri didn’t realize he’d been dozing until Victor standing and pulling on his hand roused him. “Don’t fall asleep out here. You’re difficult to wake up.”

That was only sometimes true, he thought tiredly. He stood up, his free hand wiping across his eyes to wake himself up a bit more and then he allowed himself to be guided into the building and he stopped to dry off and get dressed alongside Victor. Once he was clothed again, Victor reclaimed his hand and took the lead again, Yuuri not bothering to put his glasses back on to bring the familiar halls into focus when he was just going straight to bed, and they walked together down to Yuuri’s room.

They reached Yuuri’s door and he stepped around Victor, reaching down to pet the brown blur that was Makkachin, the dog waiting outside Yuuri’s door as he often did when the two of them were in the hot springs. He stepped into his room and turned around, taking advantage of his tiredness to ask before nerves got the better of him. “Do you want to stay in here a while longer?”

Without his glasses, he couldn’t really see Victor’s expression clearly, but he knew from his lack of movement that he’d caught the Russian by surprise. He always enjoyed when he managed that, felt like it helped balance things between them.

But then when Victor didn’t answer him as quickly as Yuuri thought he would, the panic started to creep up on Yuuri and the concern that he’d pushed things too far too fast hit him and he started rambling.

“I mean, I like being next to you. It was relaxing and I was comfortable with it. I thought you were too and I wanted to see if you wanted to stay for a little longer. You don’t have to, of course.”

Victor stepped up to him and cupped Yuuri’s cheek, his face coming a bit more into focus by being so close. “Of course I’d like to stay with you, Yuuri. I was just surprised that you would ask so soon. I was ready to be waiting for a while longer before you felt comfortable enough to ask that. I’ll never pass up a chance to spend time with you. It’s where I want to be.”

Yuuri was blushing deeply now, he knew it. He’d never be as comfortable with expressions like that as Victor was, he just knew it.

“Ok,” he settled on saying before he stepped back into his room.

Makkachin darted past his leg and bounded onto the bed, Victor laughing at how comfortable his dog was with invading Yuuri’s room. The poodle had taken to switching between the rooms throughout the night, cuddling with his apparent two favorite people and only staying in one room if they closed the door all the way, which was only done when there was a guest in a nearby room.

Victor went to the bed and sat down, laying back to give his dog a hug for a few moments as Yuuri switched from pants to shorts so he didn’t get too hot through the night. When he approached the bed, Victor let Makkachin go and commanded him to the end of the bed before standing up so Yuuri could slide under the blanket first. After sharing hotel rooms for competitions, Yuuri had discovered that Victor liked to be closest to the door. Since he didn’t care either way, he didn’t mind getting into bed first and getting comfortable along the wall as Victor laid down behind him. As soon as Yuuri was still, Victor’s arm extended over his waist, his chest pressing in against Yuuri’s back, warming him as he felt Victor’s breath against his neck.

It took about ten minutes of slowly relaxing but he managed to fall asleep pretty easily considering this was the first time he’d ever asked Victor to sleep in his bed like this, his exhaustion from the day playing a significant role in that as well.

His body felt heavy, like he couldn’t move no matter how much he wanted to. He could hear faint voices talking, like they were a few rooms away even though from his corner of the onsen, there shouldn’t be anyone’s room close enough for him to hear. Except Victor’s and he shouldn’t be hearing anything from Victor’s room tonight.

Then again, he didn’t think he could feel the warmth of Victor next to him. Had he left for some reason?

Yuuri tried to open his eyes but couldn’t. He tried to roll onto his back but couldn’t. He tried to register the feel of his bed but couldn’t.

What was going on?

He couldn’t remember experiencing anything like this before, no matter how weird his dreams got.

“You lost him?” a voice Yuuri didn’t recognize suddenly said. It still sounded distant, like what else he’d heard, but it had become just barely clear enough for Yuuri to determine the words. And they were spoken in English, smooth English with only a hint of an accent but Yuuri couldn’t determine where the accent was from. And as accustomed as he was to hearing accents, it was strange not to be able to place one. Usually that meant a blend of different accents coming together into something unique.

“What did you expect? I’m not the kind suited to following people around and I told you that. It’s not like we don’t know where he’ll be coming back to.” It was another voice, a female this time and Yuuri didn’t like the chill it sent down his spine.

“Because him leaving town can always mean he’s never coming back and I lose my Ouroboros. I’m not wasting over a year tracking him and waiting for an opportunity just for it to be wasted with their damn effective methods of making rare cores vanish.”

“I thought you got a Beholder. Use him to look into the future and tell you when the Ouroboros is open.”

“Yeah, we got a damn blind Beholder. He’s useless. We need the Ouroboros to get any use from the Beholder.”

“Fuck, seriously?” There was a thump, like a small impact and then something crashed to the ground. “He went to the U.E.A. That’s where I lost him.”

“Damnit, I didn’t know he had connections in the agency. They likely handled transportation somewhere and I haven’t been able to get anyone close to that office without being caught.”

The female scoffed. “You lost your grip on that area a long time ago. Maybe you should think about moving on, picking a new target. The Ouroboros knows about you anyway.”

The man let out a chuckle. “I pick some for the challenge, not just the core they have to offer me. He’s a challenge and not one I expected to have.”

“Whatever. Just don’t come whining to me when he keeps giving you the slip.”

“Mistakes will happen on their side, just like I’ve made mistakes on mine. All I need is to be ready for them.”

“You’re not the Beholder. Stop acting like you’re all-seeing.”

“It’s not about abilities. It’s just about human nature. And _that_ I do know. Now, when you…” he suddenly trailed off though Yuuri couldn’t hear any sort of reason for him to have stopped talking. There were no sounds anywhere else around them. After a few seconds of complete silence, he spoke again, his voice a little hushed. “Send out a quick wave. I don’t know what it is, just something feels off.”

“How big?”

“As big as you can without losing potency.”

“I’m about to go to sleep anyway. No harm in running myself empty.”

There was another few seconds of silence and then it felt like Yuuri was slammed into, harder than any fall he’d ever taken, and he was suddenly sitting upright in his bed gasping and one hand clutched at his chest over his heart while the other pressed against his forehead, the two points on his body that he could swear he felt some tingling, like a limb regaining circulation after falling asleep.

“Yuuri, what’s wrong?” Victor said from behind Yuuri on the bed and he couldn’t help but tense up at the surprise of hearing and feeling Victor _right there_ when he’d been sure he was gone.

That dream had been vivid. Almost as vivid as the ones he still got occasionally about strangers dying.

The details of what he’d dreamed were slipping from his memory just as quickly, too.

There was a soft whine in front of him and he opened his eyes to see Makkachin scooting himself closer to Yuuri, his head low as he likely tried to figure out why Yuuri was upset and trying to move in to comfort him. Yuuri dropped his hand from his chest and reached out to pet at the dog’s head.

His own head was starting to pound, a headache building quickly.

“Yuuri?” Victor called to him again and he dropped his other hand before reaching back toward Victor blindly. After a few seconds, Victor’s hand took his and squeezed comfortingly.

“Sorry, Victor. Just a bad dream,” he answered, his voice rough with sleep.

He felt the bed move behind him and then Victor’s other arm was wrapping around his waist and hugging him loosely from the side, the two remaining like that for a few minutes while Yuuri calmed down, his memory of the dream fading as it usually did until there was nothing and he was able to relax back to lay down.

It was a lot longer until he fell asleep again, though.

Despite not being able to remember what he’d dreamed, he still felt like something was wrong.


	3. Visitors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first meeting with the ones there to see Yuuri...

Yuuri’s head was still hurting the next morning. Victor had asked him when he first woke up what he’d dreamed about that made him wake up like he had, but he never remembered these dreams and so honestly told the Russian that he’d forgotten. Victor had pouted about it but seemed to accept his answer easily enough.

So, they’d gone through their morning as usual, eating breakfast and then getting their skating gear together and heading toward Ice Castle. The mornings were usually spent with them getting in some independent practice in, each taking a half of the rink and doing their own work, it being common for them to put in headphones as well so they weren’t distracted by what the other was doing. It was their time – though Yuuri suspected it was more for his sake than Victor’s – to focus in and let themselves work without the pressure of perfecting a program.

Yuuri had been working on some simple step sequence drills he liked when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye, though it was too far away to see any details without his glasses on. It was definitely off the ice though and he wondered who was there. Nishigori had been at the front counter and he didn’t let people interrupt Victor and Yuuri when they were skating unless he got the okay from both of them.

Yuuri pulled his earbuds out of his ears and slid them into the pocket of his jacket, grabbing his glasses to slide them on, having kept them in his pocket since he hadn’t been planning on working on jumps and he always skated without them so he didn’t get used to wearing them while skating, no matter how casually.

When he looked back toward where he’d seen people, he was confused at the pair of people he saw talking to Nishigori.

He didn’t recognize either one of them, though he was really bad with faces so that didn’t actually mean he hadn’t met them before. They looked younger than him, though not by too much, likely in their late teens. Were they skaters or just checking out the ice rink?

He’d been about to dismiss it as just that, business being conducted for the ice rink, when Yuuko stepped through the door between the lobby and the entryway around the rink and waved him over. He frowned as he pushed off the ice and skated casually over to her.

“Is something wrong?” Yuuri asked as soon as he slid to a stop in front of Yuuko. She looked tense.

“No, not wrong. There’s some people here who would like to talk to you.” Yuuri remembered his mom mentioning that people had been asking for him at the onsen last night. With his rough sleep, he’d forgotten that he was supposed to try and see who it was before leaving that morning. “We told them you were practicing and would be done soon and could talk to them then, but they keep insisting that we tell you they’re here and that they want to speak with you.”

“Do you know them?” he asked even though he was sure she didn’t or she would have probably said so.

“No, I’ve never seen them before. But when Takeshi kept insisting that they wait until you’re finished, one of them pulled out an ID. He’s a Deva, Yuuri.”

Yuuri’s breath caught in surprise more than anything.

What would the Devas be doing here looking for him? He hadn’t done anything that should have gotten them to come talk to him. He didn’t use his core and he hadn’t seen anything having to do with Oni. As far as he knew, there was no reason for them to want to speak to him.

“Um, I guess I should go ahead and speak to them, then,” he said, his voice a bit shaky no matter how certain he was that there was nothing he had done to be in trouble with Devas.

He heard the sliding of skates on ice approach him and turned to look over his shoulder just as Victor slid up behind him, his expression serious.

“Victor. Um, there’s apparently a Deva here who wants to talk to me so I’ll go take care of that really quickly and then get back to work.” He didn’t want Victor thinking he was some horrible person in trouble with the enforcement agency of the users. Not that he thought Victor even knew he was a user; he just didn’t talk about it. Sure, it was on his skater profile but people didn’t make a habit of looking at that part since it didn’t make a difference to their skating.

“Yuuko, why don’t you tell them to come here and talk?” Victor said with a sudden smile and Yuuri wasn’t sure why he’d requested that. But Yuuko nodded easily enough and then turned to walk back toward the visitors.

“Why out here? I could have easily gone and talked to them,” Yuuri asked as Victor skated so he was right next to him, like he was supporting him in something that had nothing to do with skating, with his position as Yuuri’s coach.

But Yuuri didn’t get a chance to get an answer as the doors opened again and Yuuko walked in with the pair of young men following a few steps behind with Nishigori behind them. But before the door closed, a third unfamiliar male stepped through the doors but remained distant, stepping to the side of the door and turning so that he could easily turn between the rink and the lobby.

The other two stepped up to the half-wall surrounding the rink, Yuuko stepping off to the side a bit to turn toward them and not be directly between them and Yuuri.

“Yuuri Katsuki, this is Wataru Fujii with the Devas with Shion Himura and Nezumi Kaneda,” she indicated who she meant for each introduction and Yuuri nodded to them.

The Deva, Wataru Fujii, looked like he was the youngest though it was hard to tell as they were obviously close in age. His black hair was haphazard, sort of like Yuuri kept his own except when he was competing, and his eyes were completely black. Not a dark brown, but as black as his hair and that was a little unsettling. But he was slim and only taller than Shion by a matter of centimeters.

And Yuuri had to admit that he’d never seen features like Shion had, at least not on someone so young. His hair, a bit longer than Wataru’s, was white. Not a pale blond or grey but actually white. And while it was difficult to say for sure in the lighting of the rink, he was pretty sure he saw red eyes, though it could have just been a shade of brown. And extending out along his left cheek below the eye along his cheekbone was a thick line of scarring, almost like a burn but Yuuri couldn’t see any roughness of the skin like a burn would cause. It was just darker than the rest of his skin. He thought he could see more of the discoloration around Shion’s neck but couldn’t say for sure from how much of his neck was covered by the line of his collar.

While Yuuri couldn’t get as much close detail of Nezumi because of how he was positioned and at the distance he’d kept, he could still make out enough. He was definitely taller, closer to Nishigori’s height. And while he wasn’t necessarily muscular, Yuuri recognized strength and knew this person was solidly built and likely dangerous. His long black hair was tied up at the back of his head and Yuuri could just barely make out what looked like grey eyes.

They really were quite a strange collection of people and they hadn’t even said anything to Yuuri yet.

Shion turned toward Yuuko then, giving her a kind smile and a polite bow, then turning to do the same toward Nishigori. “I appreciate your help. May we have some privacy with Yuuri for a few minutes?”

Yuuko turned toward Yuuri, her expression asking him if he was alright with that or if he wanted them to stay. He gave her a smile and quick nod, letting her know it was alright.

Besides, it seemed like Victor wasn’t going to be leaving, no matter who told him to.

But his friend still looked hesitant and glanced between him and the visitors, slowly accepting the request and saying, “Takeshi and I will be right up front. Let us know if you need anything.”

Yuuri nodded and then watched as she left with Nishigori, the door closing behind them and Nezumi stepped so he was standing in front of it now, seeming to be more of a barrier than the actual door.

There was a short silence before Yuuri decided to try and get this over with. He couldn’t help the nervous laugh he let out as he reached up to scratch at the back of his head absently. “So, Devas, huh? What can I do for you?”

Wataru was the one to answer. “’Deva’ actually. I’m the only Deva here. These guys are User Enforcement Agency.” Yuuri wondered if Wataru thought that would be something to relax about. It was still the authorities for users and Yuuri still had no clue as to why they were there.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“It’s no big deal. I’ll try and make this quick; I know you have a lot of preparation you’re trying to finish.”

“Thank you. I have to say, I’m very confused as to why you want to talk to me. I haven’t done or witnessed anything that would involve any sort of law enforcement.” There was a few seconds and then Yuuri felt himself blush as he got a little flustered. “I mean, I know that’s what anyone would say, but…”

Shion smiled warmly and Yuuri found himself thinking that this was someone who was probably good at calming people down. It didn’t quite work with Yuuri but it was still something to know.

However, Wataru was the one who continued speaking, sounding at least a little amused, “We don’t only take out Oni. That’s just what everyone knows about. My job in the organization is to meet with users who are suspected to have awakened rare cores and make sure they are getting anything they need to remain safe. Whether that means arranging training for them or just making sure their personal files are maintained is determined by the disposition.”

Yuuri frowned, fighting the urge to glance over his shoulder to Victor. If he didn’t know about Yuuri being a user before, he certainly would now. It shouldn’t make a difference, especially with the lengths Yuuri went to in order to not tap into any of his abilities, but there was still the possibility that things may change between them.

“My records reflect that I’m a user,” he went with minimal on his response.

“Yes and I’m glad you at least updated that,” Wataru returned easily. “I saw in your file that the core awakened when you were about seven. Did you ever test the disposition?”

“No, I didn’t test it, just confirmed that it was there and updated my files. And even that was a few years afterward. It doesn’t really interfere with anything in my day-to-day life. I’m fine with that.”

“I understand you wanting to maintain distance from your core. I just need to follow through with all I’m supposed to and make sure I’m not leaving someone without everything they need.”

Something about how Wataru was speaking made Yuuri feel like this was just the Deva going through the motions of seeing his job through. There was only one time so far that he’d really believed Wataru was being genuine and that had been when he’d said he understood Yuuri’s distance from being a user.

Did that mean that Wataru wanted to be the same?

“Hi, I’m sorry to interrupt but I have a few questions,” Victor said suddenly as he moved forward just enough that he was slightly in front of Yuuri, not blocking him at all but the position still seeming defensive.

There was a twitch of movement from Nezumi but Yuuri caught what looked like a wave from Shion and the man at the door remained where he was. Yuuri wondered if Nezumi had been caught off-guard by Victor getting involved.

“May I ask who you are, sir?” Shion asked.

“I’m Victor Nikiforov, Yuuri’s coach,” Victor introduced himself but Yuuri noticed at once that the usual charm he spoke with when talking to the public was absent. He sounded serious and strangely intense.

Shion was frowning then, not in an upset way, more like he was deep in thought. Wataru glanced over at him but didn’t say anything. “I recognize that name…” Shion muttered. Wataru’s expression changed then, practically rolling his eyes and Shion rushed to continue. “I mean I recognized it before but it’s really nagging at me, like I should know where I know it from.”

Wataru shook his head and looked back to Yuuri, saying in a low voice as he did, “Let me know if you think of it.” If they weren’t in the ice rink where the sound carried well, Yuuri would have probably missed it. “I’ll answer anything I’m able to. Ask away.”

“Users are allowed privacy. They are allowed to just not do anything with their cores. Why are the Devas getting involved in something that people are allowed to do?”

“Rare cores are known to be at greater risk of being attacked by Oni. We want to ensure the safety of civilians as best we can. Even if that just means we are aware of who has a rare disposition, that’s something we didn’t know before and we can be prepared to help.”

“But why are you even looking into Yuuri? I’ve been with him for months and I have never seen anything that looked like the power of a core from him.”

“There was a video posted of him a few months ago of him skating and a Deva picked up traces of discharge from a visually based disposition. While not all cores that utilize the eyes are rare, it was decided that we would still investigate and make sure we knew the truth concerning Yuuri’s disposition.”

“How did you plan to do that?”

“Well, if he’d done an evaluation to determine disposition, I was just going to update our personal files. If he didn’t know the disposition, I was going to request he complete an evaluation so that we could find out and I could make the update. No matter what, I was going to go over options he has for any needed training and emergency contacts he could make that would ensure he remained safe should he ever be made the target of an Oni attack.”

“Training?” Yuuri asked before Victor could continue.

Shion was the one to answer. “A majority of users don’t undergo any official training programs for controlling their abilities. This is dangerous and while there are multiple courses available and even more in development to become more easily accessible to the general public, they aren’t out yet and we’re seeing more instances of users accidentally using their abilities in situations of high stress or danger that unnecessarily endangers many. We’re trying to mitigate that happening. We just don’t want anything happening with users that they don’t want to happen.”

“Well, I’ve never experienced anything like that, where something happened by accident. It’s why I haven’t done anything about the core.”

“Some cores take the right thought process.”

Shion felt guilty about something. It was an old guilt, something that was just in the peripherals of how Shion felt now. The source of the guilt had been something that had affected him deeply, influenced who he was now.

Yuuri brought his hands together in front of him, wrapping his fingers of one hand around the wrist of his other and feeling for his pulse, then took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as he thought about his heartrate slowing down.

He’d learned this years ago and it was one of the few ways that he’d found that worked to help him pull away from the emotions of others. Sure, it only worked when he was at rest like this but it was better than nothing.

Victor’s hand pressed against the small of Yuuri’s back, a familiar show of support.

“While we appreciate the concern of the Devas, it’s unnecessary,” Victor’s tone was as serious as Yuuri had ever heard from the man and he looked over his shoulder to see a matching stern expression that just didn’t fit him. This wasn’t Victor skating an intense program and conveying that but him very genuinely shutting these people down. Yuuri had seen that determination before but never in quite this way.

Wataru glanced over toward Shion, who gave him a slight shrug and Wataru turned back toward them with what seemed like hesitation before he continued. “Well, to be blunt, it really doesn’t matter what you say on the matter. You may be his coach, but that’s all. You aren’t his spouse and he’s an adult so no one else can speak for him on the matter. I have no problem with you being present if it’s what Yuuri wants, but that permission doesn’t extend to any decisions being made by either him or me.”

It felt like the two were about to start to fight with how tense they both were and Yuuri was surprised by the tension from Victor. He never would have expected Victor to stand up for him so intensely. While it was commonplace for the Russian to voice his support of Yuuri as a skater and he was making more statements in support of Yuuri himself, it was a completely different matter for him to be so defensive when it had nothing to do with skating and was to the _Devas_. At least Yuuri thought so.

“Maybe if you didn’t make it seem like such an attack, I wouldn’t feel like I need to defend him.”

“Hold on,” Yuuri said as he slid forward a little to position himself in front of Victor, reaching up with one hand to press his palm to Victor’s stomach, hoping the contact would offer some comfort and help him calm down. “There’s no reason to turn this into an argument.” He turned most of his attention back toward the Deva, keeping his hand on Victor so he would know if he moved. “I’m not turning the Devas away just because I don’t think you have a reason to be here. I have no problem with you determining for yourself that I don’t have anything here for you guys to be concerned with but I’d also ask that you understand that I’m getting ready for a competition and I have a lot of work to do.”

“Of course. We’ll try to keep out of your way while we conduct the observation,” Shion declared and Yuuri’s attention was taken briefly by the motion of Nezumi rolling his eyes and crossing his arms as he turned toward the door, seeming like he was frustrated at something. “We’ll do our best to limit the times we speak with you to when you aren’t training. We don’t have a time limit and I understand you don’t want your performance to suffer.”

Yuuri turned toward the agent and offered a polite bow. It felt like out of the three, Shion was the one who was most relaxed about the whole thing and Yuuri decided he was the one to appeal to.

“If you want, we can speak again this evening. I usually finish training and then return to the onsen for dinner.”

Shion returned the bow and replied, “Then we’ll speak to you then. Have a good day.”

He turned to leave, shooting a meaningful look toward Wataru, who seemed to not want to call it quits just yet but gave in quickly enough with a sigh.

“You get to make the call and tell them why it’s going to take me so long,” the young man muttered, Yuuri barely catching the words in the echo of the rink as the pair walked toward Nezumi. Then they continued and he strained to hear more. “Is there a reason for us to stay and look deeper?”

“Yes. I can’t tell if he’s trying to keep it from us or truly isn’t aware of his dispositions but we need to learn more before we leave him be. It’s possible he may be someone you and I need to keep a personal guard over.” Shion spoke quietly in response and Yuuri had to strain to hear, guessing at a few words based on context.

“Why do you say that?” Nezumi asked as they’d reached him, his body facing toward Yuuri making him a bit easier to hear.

“Not sure. Something is just making me feel like this is similar to when we met Wataru.”

Nezumi and Wataru exchanged looks before giving a glance over to Yuuri.

“I get the feeling him asking for help is going to take something as drastic as it took me,” Wataru said and then the three all headed for the door and left.

Yuuri had no idea how to take what had just happened. What had the Devas seen that made them pay attention to him? Yuuri didn’t know much about cores, had made a point to ignore them as much as possible besides what everyone was taught in school. He wasn’t really familiar with different dispositions and he’d never really looked at what made for a rare disposition. He did know that what he could do, Empathy, wasn’t really considered that impressive of a disposition. It tended to be difficult to control and many people just had it sealed. And it was, at the most, simply uncommon, not rare.

So why did he feel the need to tell them he didn’t know the disposition instead of holding back? This wasn’t his family and friends who didn’t have cores he was lying to but the Devas and U.E.A. agents. Their entire existence revolved around cores and here he was trying to convince them to ignore his. They were there for a reason and they weren’t going to go away simply because he was a little uncooperative.

He needed to stop that. He just wasn’t sure how to tell them now that he’d so willingly lied.

* * *

When Yuuri and Victor returned to the onsen that night, Yuuri didn’t want to go inside. He just knew that he’d likely be facing another barrage of questions from one of the visitors and he really wasn’t feeling up to that.

He’d been distracted all day and he hurt from all the falls he’d taken before Victor had told him he wasn’t allowed to try anymore jumps.

It might not have been so bad if Victor himself hadn’t seemed as distracted but it was pretty bad for both of them.

Yuuri admitted that what he’d overheard as they’d been leaving was on his mind more than anything. It sounded like they had more interest besides as a Deva and U.E.A. agents but that made no sense. What else was there?

Yuuri let out a sigh as he removed his shoes and placed them off to the side as his mind made another circle of what he’d been agonizing over all day. He headed towards his room to drop off his bag as usual, hearing Victor follow behind. Victor turned off at his own room, though, dropping off his own bag as Yuuri continued on down the hall. He changed as well once he was there, finishing pulling a loose shirt down when he heard a low whine from the other side of his door and he smiled at Makkachin’s impatience.

He slid open his door and let out a short yelp of surprise as he stepped back, having not expected Victor to be standing at his door. Makka trotted up to him and circled around him once as Victor followed, reaching for his shoulder.

“Sorry, Yuuri. I was about to knock,” he apologized as he squeezed Yuuri’s shoulder.

“No, it’s alright. Is everything okay?” Victor usually just waited for Yuuri in the dining area, allowing him some time to himself.

And even as Victor stood in front of him now, he looked uncomfortable, which really didn’t match up to Victor at all.

“I just wanted to see how you were. I mean, about the Devas being here.”

Yuuri’s eyes dropped to look at the floor between them, unsure how to answer.

“I don’t know. I never expected to be on the receiving end of questioning from Devas and I’m still sort of processing all that. But it’s the Devas so there’s nothing to worry about, right? I’m not an Oni and they don’t think I’m one. They’ll just finish off their investigation and move on.” He finished by looking up to meet Victor’s gaze, giving him a small smile.

“Is there something for them to find?” Victor asked then and Yuuri wasn’t as confident in his ability to answer that as smoothly, not to Victor.

He was never what anyone would consider “smooth” when it came to Victor.

“I don’t know. Like I told them, I haven’t done anything with my core since finding out I had one awaken. It’s never affected me in any noticeable way so I sort of just don’t think about it.”

Victor watched him for a few seconds before he finally gave Yuuri a familiar warm smile, the expression helping Yuuri to relax a bit. He never would have expected Victor being so serious like that would actually make him so anxious, though he shouldn’t have been surprised when it came to something setting off his anxiety. “Well, alright then.”

Victor reached down and took Yuuri’s hand before turning and leading him out of his room, barely giving Yuuri time to stop to slide the door closed, and the two headed toward the dining room with Makkachin following behind.

They entered the open room and Yuuri’s gaze was immediately drawn to where Nezumi and Shion were sitting across a table from Wataru, the three talking in quiet tones. And while they didn’t make any motion to acknowledge Yuuri and Victor coming into the room, Yuuri didn’t doubt that they were completely aware that it had happened. But their voices blended into the other patrons, some regulars crowded around the television and talking jovially to make for more noise than usual. Yuuri was a little disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to listen in to their conversation like he had earlier – this room didn’t lend well to carrying sound like the ice rink did even without the extra noise – but then he chastised himself for being so intrusive. Just because he was curious didn’t mean that he had the right to intrude on their business.

Maybe Victor and his practically non-existent boundaries – especially when it came to Yuuri – were rubbing off on Yuuri. He hoped not. He didn’t have nearly enough confidence to pull off that kind of personality quirk.

The two sat down at their usual table right next to the kitchen with Makkachin curling up behind Victor and Mari was actually able to sit down and join them for eating dinner, taking the chance to practice her English with Victor. She was fluent in the language, like all the Katsuki’s were, but she had decided sometime during Yurio’s time at the onsen that she could be better. After all, Yuuri could make it so he barely had an accent when he spoke the language if he wanted – five years in Detroit had done him well – so she could too, or so she claimed.

Either way, he was able to relax into conversation with his sister and Victor with his parents joining as the business allowed. He ate dinner, managed to steal a few bites of Victor’s that was definitely not on his approved diet, and actually forgot about the people he was anxious about sitting across the room for a while.

He had finished eating a while ago and after clearing all the dishes had returned to sit closer to Victor and pet Makkachin while Victor and Mari continued talking excitedly about some of the trouble Yurio had caused after coming to train under Yakov. He’d become aware of the three visitors across the room but they had remained involved in their own conversation so far.

He was curious about them.

What if he talked to them as just people? Maybe if he saw them as something other than a Deva and a few U.E.A. agents he would be more comfortable. After all, it wasn’t like they were _only_ their jobs.

So, he stood, placing a hand briefly on Victor’s shoulder and nodding toward the three young men to let him know where he was going. Victor looked like he was about to stand as well but Yuuri waved him off, let him know he was fine to talk to them on his own.

It wasn’t like they were going to hurt him.

He walked across the room, returning greetings from a few other patrons that had come in while he was eating. Yuuri noticed a shift in Nezumi’s posture when he got closer, something he wouldn’t have picked up on if he wasn’t used to watching for the slightest changes in people’s bodies as they moved to dance or skate.

Nezumi’s back was to him, which said a lot toward his earlier thought that this was a dangerous person. Well, maybe not dangerous but at the very least well-trained.

He stepped up to the table and all three of the young men looked up toward him, giving him varying degrees of polite expressions.

“May I join you, talk for a while?” Yuuri asked kindly, giving them a polite bow.

This was one of those little aspects of interaction that he was happy to be back in Japan for, where he could bow and have the meaning be understood.

Shion was the one to answer with a kind smile, “Of course. We’d be pleased to speak with you.”

Yuuri kneeled down next to Wataru, making sure to keep a respectable distance away without seeming rude. Although it seemed as if he hadn’t given enough of a distance because Wataru shifted slightly, resting more of his weight to his hip to put a little more distance between them.

Shion had continued speaking, though, so Yuuri didn’t get a chance to feel anxious over his miscalculation. “It’s been nice coming to a smaller city that is more of a tourist destination. I haven’t done much travelling and I’ve really enjoyed the chance to explore something other than different parts of the same city.”

Yuuri couldn’t help but give a kind smile in response, feeling himself fall into the familiar habit of discussing Hasetsu from the perspective of a family who owned a business and knowing the area. “Have you been to check out the castle?”

“Unfortunately, no. Work has to be the priority here. Though I have told Nezumi that we’re going to be stopping by there before we head back.”

Nezumi rolled his eyes and turned his body so his side was resting against the table, extending one leg out behind Shion.

They had an affinity, Yuuri realized. And if he was interpreting their body language and just how Nezumi had acted since Yuuri was introduced, he was pretty sure it was the kind of affinity that formed from romantic love.

Yuuri had always sort of liked the idea of affinities and even had an affinity with Phichit, the love they shared as best friends being enough for their cores to connect them while they’d been roommates. And that connection, that knowledge that he cared enough for someone and they cared enough for him had been a support system for him while he’d been in Detroit. It had helped him find his calm even as he was challenged to grow as a competitor.

But the affinity that formed between lovers, the kind that Yuuri was certain existed between Nezumi and Shion, that was something he’d never experienced. Because Victor wasn’t a user so no matter how deeply they loved, there was no possibility for an affinity to form.

Not that Yuuri thought that he needed an affinity to trust that Victor cared about him. He proved that all the time with his actions.

“Well, I do recommend checking it out before you leave. It’s a fun way to spend a day,” Yuuri said.

“So he says but I’m not convinced and not looking for a change of mind on this,” Nezumi responded. “But that’s what I get every time I forget that he’s technically smarter than me.”

“Technically, officially, fundamentally, applicably,” Wataru said just before he took a drink from his glass but Yuuri saw the uptick of his lips.

“And we both score higher than you, kid, so don’t get too invested in comments like that,” Nezumi shot back.

Wataru simply shrugged back and turned toward the gathering of patrons around the television as they started shouting at what they were watching, likely a game of some sort.

They were friends, Yuuri observed. This wasn’t just a matter of them all working the same investigation but they had a genuine connection with each other besides the affinity between Shion and Nezumi. For some reason, that helped Yuuri feel some relief at speaking with them.

Yuuri leaned forward, placing his forearms against the edge of the table so he could lower his voice a little. “Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?” he asked, the other three looking at him with differing levels of curiosity at his admittedly sudden shift in tone.

“Ask away. It doesn’t mean we’ll answer,” Nezumi replied with a dismissive shrug.

He was beginning to remind Yuuri a little of Yurio.

And while Shion and Wataru looked a bit more accepting of Yuuri asking them something, Wataru did give a light shrug as if agreeing with Nezumi without actually saying so.

“Why are you the ones here?”

It was only once the question was out that Yuuri realized that it ended up sounding a lot more offensive than he’d intended. He felt his cheeks flush and he dropped his gaze as his mind started racing to try and find another way of putting it.

But Wataru let out a short laugh beside him and he looked over to the teen. “You know I get that just about every time. It’s kind of hard to take advice from someone who shouldn’t be out of high school, isn’t it?”

Yuuri gave a slight shrug even as his embarrassment didn’t fade at Wataru’s dismissal of any offense. “Not really. I know that people are allowed to apply to the Devas before finishing high school and their education is completed if they are accepted.”

“Doesn’t change that you’ve got six years on me and about four on them.”

“Age doesn’t always indicate skill or experience,” Yuuri responded easily enough. He gave a smile as he added, “Don’t forget that as a figure skater, I’m closer to the end of my career than the beginning. What significance I attribute to age is a little skewed compared to many others.”

After all, he was between two skaters of superior skill practically constantly now and their ages were secondary. On one side was his idol and coach four years older than him and on the other was his fellow competitor being seven years younger. And if Yuri Plisetsky was capable of taking the gold in the Grand Prix series in his debut year – which he completely was – then these people were completely capable of being effective Devas who knew much better than he did.

Wataru seemed to shrug it all off, though, like it didn’t make any difference to him if Yuuri cared about his age or not. And, all things considered, it likely didn’t. He said it was something he was used to hearing so he was likely used to it depending on how long he’d been doing this.

“I’m still an Initiate, still in my required two years of time with the Devas. I’ve finished all the training and they decided to have me investigate potential rare cores as a preventative measure against Oni finding easy targets. They thought I’d make a good understanding ear because I’ve got a rare core. Usually it just means people question my motivation for being there as a Deva, assume I’m only going to try and get them to join as well.” Wataru finished with another shrug but Yuuri could tell this one wasn’t as genuinely dismissive. Wataru was bothered by his position with the Devas and Yuuri didn’t need to look deep to figure that out.

But Yuuri could also see the sense of the decision. After all, it was easy to imagine that meeting someone else with a rare core and have that be why they were there might be something of a relief for some. “Can I ask what your disposition is?”

“Esper,” Wataru replied easily enough. He was obviously used to saying so.

Yuuri wished he knew a bit more about dispositions to know what that meant for abilities.

“It’s basically telekinesis but the hand waving is required,” Wataru elaborated, including a passive hand wave for good measure before Yuuri could ask so he figured his expression had given him away. “And not only is the disposition itself rare but it doesn’t work the same for me as it does any other Esper so I get double the rarity which apparently makes me ideal for talking to others who are in the same situation.”

“I see.”

Shion cut in then. “Yuuri, I just want to make sure you understand that we aren’t here to force you into anything. We just want to make sure that you are safe. Determining your disposition is the easiest way for us to do that.”

Yuuri’s gaze dropped to his hands in front of him. “I don’t doubt your intentions. I just…I’ve spent a long time ignoring that I have a core. It makes no difference to my life and I’d like to keep it that way.”

“We’re not in a hurry. We’ll let you decide when we can move forward.”

It was hard to imagine that Shion was anything but genuine and Yuuri found himself nodding understanding even as Shion appeared to be ready to change subject back to the safe topic of Hasetsu Castle.

He wasn’t sure he understood these people any better than he had when they walked into the ice rink that morning.


	4. At Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri finds reason to open up to a Deva with unexpected results...

Yuuri wasn’t able to move even as he felt like he was floating. It was a strange sensation, just like it had been that first time he felt it years ago and he knew he was close to panicking because of it. He wanted to call out for help, get someone to wake him up and break him out of this state but he just couldn’t figure out how to make his voice work.

Because while he felt like he wasn’t in any danger from this state, something still felt like a threat to him.

“There’s no possible way to reactivate that mark. It’s been healed from his system. It’s gone. There’s nothing I can do. Now, I can, of course, plant a new dormant mark if that’s what you’re willing to pay for.”

Yuuri didn’t recognize the voice, only able to tell that it was an adult male though he was speaking Japanese.

There was a short pause and then the man spoke again. “The answer is still no. I don’t care what sort of support you have now as opposed to last year or five years ago or ten years ago. That’s not why I turned you down. You want my help, I’m still for hire. That’s it.”

When there was another pause, Yuuri figured the man was on the phone.

“You want me to track him down for you, fine. You know my fee, upfront as always. I don’t do favors. Maybe next time have your tail be proficient at their job. You’re the one boasting about how strong your following is now when maybe you should be trying to prove it with some smarter allocation of work assignments.”

Yuuri was struck with the curiosity of wanting to know what this person looked like. He felt like if he knew that much, something about all this would make sense.

After all, he’d somewhat gotten used to the idea that there were times that he’d see things in his dreams that he didn’t understand, like how every once in a while he’d still watch someone he didn’t know die. It would slip from his memory but there was always that awareness that it had happened. But even if he didn’t know the person when that happened, he could see them. This new thing where he was hearing disjointed voices without a face to put them to while he was aware of his own inability to move was part of why it was so terrifying to experience. And even if he didn’t remember exactly what had happened before, he was aware that this wasn’t the first time it had been like this. That just disoriented him even more, the not knowing of it all. He thought that if he just had something to grasp onto, that might help him come to terms with this new oddity.

He wanted to see.

It was like he was suddenly able to open his eyes even as he knew he was still immobile. And all he could be aware of was the person in front of him in a seated position even though Yuuri couldn’t see a chair. The man was probably around Victor’s age, in the late twenties, skinny but not unhealthily so, medium brown hair cut close to his head, and matching brown eyes. His features were angular, striking in how they gave the impression of an intense person but that might also have been the cold expression of the man.

This was someone who didn’t really care about others. He tolerated who he had to but he held no interest or capability with feeling any compassion for others. It didn’t feel like he’d done anything too horrible with that but it was still not something Yuuri had experienced often.

“Deal. I’ll be in touch once payment is received.”

The man dropped his hand away from his head then sat more upright and reached to his side like he was setting an object aside. He then moved like he’d grabbed something else and pulled it onto his lap but still Yuuri could see nothing but the man.

What about the man’s surroundings? What was around him?

Just like before, it was like having the thought suddenly allowed Yuuri to just bring everything else into focus, a standard lounge chair appearing beneath the man before the rest of the room around him gradually became apparent to Yuuri. It looked like any hotel room Yuuri had been in and the man was holding a laptop in his lap now, a small table at his side holding his cell phone. The shade of the window to the man’s other side was drawn so he couldn’t see outside, but the pamphlet on the table a short distance from the man had the first language be Japanese so he was actually in Japan.

Yuuri had been so absently taking in details that he was belatedly hit with a thought that caught him by surprise once it occurred to him: what if this was real?

It was as though having that thought called out to the man and he lifted his gaze from the laptop and looked around the room like he was searching for something. He set the laptop back on the table and stood, still scanning the room with his eyes, passing by where Yuuri felt an awareness of himself. The man took a few steps closer, Yuuri feeling the urge to back away but also afraid to move, like that would suddenly make him actually materialize in front of this person and he just knew that wasn’t something he wanted. Even when the man took another few steps and stood right in front of where Yuuri’s perspective was, his eyes scanning back and forth, Yuuri just focused on remaining still.

Before Yuuri could react, the man’s right hand lifted from his side and waved back and forth in front of him, waving past where Yuuri was and Yuuri woke up with a violent gasp, sitting upright in his bed, panting heavily and covered in a layer of sweat.

His left bicep felt strange.

He took in a deep breath to try and calm his racing heart, not sure how he felt about actually having the room to himself that night, with neither Victor nor Makkachin in with him. On one hand he really didn’t think Victor would accept his dismissal of it being a mere dream again but also wanting the company of another person he trusted nearby.

He also felt like he wasn’t going to be able to go back to sleep anytime soon. He was too unsettled, becoming even more so as his memory started to quickly slip as to what he’d dreamed.

So, he slid out of his bed and absently grabbed his phone and earbuds as he left his room, heading towards the bathing room and hot springs beyond. Maybe he could help himself relax a bit faster.

He rinsed off in the shower quickly before heading out toward the hot springs and slid into the water at the far corner from the door, putting his earbuds in and turning on one of his instrumental playlists as he lowered himself to his chin in the water and relaxed his head against the rim of the pool and closed his eyes, focusing solely on the music and allowing his mind to wander over how he would dance to this, how he might skate to it, what message he could convey through his body to match how the music made him feel.

This was what he could do to calm himself when he didn’t have the option of going to the ice rink or Minako’s dance studio, like he couldn’t now because it was close to three in the morning.

Half an hour later and he didn’t really feel any better.

He let out a sigh as he pulled out one of the earbuds and opened his eyes, letting out a yelp of shock as he saw the outline of a person sitting on the walkway surrounding the smaller pool to the right of the door. He saw them jump as well and heard a responding gasp from the other person but without his glasses and having not yet really focused on them, he still wasn’t sure who it was.

“I’m sorry, I had headphones in and didn’t hear anyone else come in,” he still rushed to apologize as he sat up in the water, taking out his other headphone and reaching behind him to stop his music.

“No, I was trying to be quiet so I didn’t disturb you and didn’t consider you hadn’t even heard me. I’m sorry.” It was Wataru. Yuuri blinked a few times to clear his vision as much as he could, noticing now that Wataru was sitting in one of the robes provided by the onsen with his feet dangling into the warm water. He couldn’t really tell his expression in the low light without his glasses on. “I was just having trouble sleeping and was trying to relax a little, see if I could help myself get some sleep.”

“Yeah, me too,” Yuuri responded in a quiet voice then felt like elaborating a little. After all, a part of him had wanted company. “I’ve been having some weird dreams and was hoping to calm my mind a little. Music helps sometimes.” He nodded back toward his phone.

“I see.” Wataru let out a short laugh, though it wasn’t one of amusement and Yuuri felt a pang of longing come from the teen. “There’s usually someone else working with me, my partner. I trust Nezumi and Shion more than anyone, but they aren’t him. So I feel exposed here and just haven’t been able to sleep.”

“Where’s your partner?” Yuuri found himself asking, curious to learn more about Wataru as much as he was still looking for a distraction from his own unrest.

“Just seeing to some obligations of his own. He should be finishing up soon and joining back up with me soon but until then, I just get to be on edge.”

Yuuri heard the unspoken “worried” and “anxious” but didn’t see any point in making Wataru say them. After all, he was a Deva and that meant a certain level of confidence would be expected of him from civilians. It didn’t matter that Yuuri himself didn’t have those expectations and he understood that.

Yuuri knew just how hard it was to let go of expectations, no matter who they came from.

“Can I ask you something?” Wataru suddenly asked and Yuuri shook his head a little to focus on the teen as well as he could, trying to pick out details from the blur.

“Um, of course,” Yuuri replied, a little uncertain.

“You actually know your disposition, don’t you?” Yuuri couldn’t help the spike in his heartrate and he struggled to not outwardly react at all to the question. It helped that Wataru only paused briefly before continuing. “I’m asking off the record, not as a Deva. Because if that’s how you want things to proceed, that’s how I’ll go about things.”

Yuuri frowned in confusion. “You mean keep things from the Devas? But you work for them.”

“Yes, I do. And I do the best work I can for them. But they don’t always know best; that’s impossible. I’m a Deva out of necessity, not actual interest.”

“What could make someone think their best option is to be with an organization that puts them against the Oni?” Yuuri said absently, not entirely aware that he’d said anything aloud.

Wataru turned, lifting his legs out of the water to angle his body a little more toward Yuuri, shifting so they were bent in front of him, wrapping his arms loosely around them. “Because I was fighting Oni before I became a Deva and the Devas meant I could be trained in how to deal with the ones that would be coming after me anyway. Necessity.” He repeated and Yuuri thought he saw Wataru shrug but it was difficult to discern that motion with the blur that was Wataru. He could only really pick out his face because of the contrast of black hair and eyes to the light of his skin and the robe.

For his part, Yuuri was allowing himself a moment to process what had been told to him.

Everyone knew about Oni. They were the danger that every kid was warned about from a young age, especially if the child had awakened a core. They were taught how using the power of a core in a manner that selfishly increased one’s power, that using a core to cause harm to someone else made them an Oni. They were actually tainted by their actions and there were very few that once they started down that path changed their ways.

As children got older and learned more about the world, they were faced with the choice of learning more about cores, dispositions, affinities, Chimeras, Devas, and Oni. Yuuri, despite having his own core awaken, chose not to learn more than what was covered in his basic education. That meant that he was only peripherally aware that Oni were out there in the world, pursuing more power and hurting others for it. He’d never had to knowingly face someone who had come in contact with an Oni.

Even when he’d met Wataru, despite what he’d said the previous night about age not mattering, he realized now that he’d actually assumed on some level that because Wataru was so young, there was no way he’d ever had to face against the danger of an Oni. He’d assumed that Wataru was doing the work he was because he was young and only with the Devas a short time.

Yuuri had been wrong and learning the truth that Wataru had faced against what was considered one of the worst aspects of cores existing in the world when he was only seventeen was jarring. And he’d said he’d become a Deva because of facing Oni so he’d actually been younger than seventeen.

“I also needed to be trained control over my disposition. I mentioned that my Esper core doesn’t exactly work like others.” Yuuri nodded remembering that being said dismissively. “Being an Esper is supposed to be difficult. It’s supposed to take a lot of effort and power to do anything. One of those natural balances that happen with cores. Not me. Even after being trained, I can still accidentally cause serious damage to whatever happened to get caught in the crossfire if I got upset and started throwing my hands around. The first time I used my core was in an attack by an Oni. I destroyed a sidewalk and didn’t even know it had been me to do it. I thought it was the Oni.”

Yuuri was split on what he was taking away from what Wataru had just told him. Of course he was hearing what Wataru was meaning to tell him, that what he could do was dangerous and if he hadn’t joined the Devas to go through their training, it was extremely likely that he would have hurt someone. But he also heard something that didn’t really make sense: Wataru had said that his core awakened when he was in a fight against an Oni. Did that mean an Oni, most of whom attacked other users to increase their power and not people without cores, had attacked Wataru when he didn’t have a reason for them to target him? Did that mean that he had a second core? But that would make him a Chimera and Chimera’s weren’t allowed to be Devas. Yuuri knew that much. Everyone knew that much.

It just didn’t add up, no matter how Yuuri looked at it.

“They don’t always know what’s best,” Yuuri whispered, remembering what Wataru had said at the beginning of this conversation. Yuuri had brought up keeping things from the Devas and Wataru had spoken so easily about it being an option. An ease like what came from experience. Was that possible?

And if that was the case, didn’t that mean that Wataru really was speaking from a place of understanding when he said he was here to make sure Yuuri stayed safe if he did have a rare core that would be targeted by Oni? Would he put what Yuuri wanted above what the Devas wanted regardless of his place as one?

Maybe Yuuri could at least admit something, see if he might be able to admit more later. “About what you asked…” he knew Wataru’s attention had turned completely onto him. “…Yeah.” He couldn’t bring himself to say it any louder than a whisper but he just knew that Wataru wouldn’t have missed it.

There was silence between them for a short time until Yuuri watched Wataru move to stand. “Good to know. It always freaks me out a little when people don’t at least know that much about themselves.”

Was that it?

“So, follow-up question.” Of course it wasn’t it but Yuuri still nodded for Wataru to continue. “As far as you know, is it rare?”

Yuuri shook his head. “I looked it up. Uncommon, but not rare from what I could tell. It’s just Empathy.”

That was a lot easier than he’d thought it would be.

“Ok, that accounts for the one centered in your heart. What about the other one?”

Yuuri frowned at Wataru, now really wishing he had his glasses on. “What?” he asked, genuinely confused.

“What?” Wataru repeated and it took Yuuri a few seconds to recognize that Wataru’s response had also been genuine and not mocking. “I mean Empathy is a disposition for a core centered in the heart and you’re right that it isn’t considered rare or of too much interest to Oni in general. But what about the core centered in the left hemisphere of your brain? What’s that disposition?”

Yuuri didn’t know what to say. What was worse was that he knew Wataru was being honest. He wasn’t trying to mess with him or confuse him. He felt nothing but genuine curiosity and honesty in what he was saying.

But that meant that Wataru was being honest about something that Yuuri had never thought possible, not when there was a reason to think otherwise.

“I have two cores?”

* * *

Victor was usually better about waking up than Yuuri, though Yuuri figured that was merely a factor of how much he just liked to sleep. He didn’t consider himself to be lazy, not when his first choice of something to do was a sport that required a lot of training and exercise. But sleep was sleep and it was a wonderful thing.

And right now he wished one of two things was happening: he either wished he was sleeping or that Victor would wake up already. Sure, it was only about five in the morning and Victor didn’t usually wake up for another hour, but Yuuri was beyond thinking completely rationally. He was tired and his nerves were frayed.

He was actually considering asking Victor to take the morning off of his training, mostly because he was sure he wouldn’t be able to do anything of use until he got more sleep and processed everything a little more.

After Wataru had revealed the little life altering fact that Yuuri had two cores instead of just the one he knew about, they had returned inside and Yuuri went to go get some warmer clothes and his glasses while Wataru had gone to get dressed and wake up Shion and Nezumi. They’d met back up in the room upstairs that Yurio had stayed in, it still being relatively empty and separated enough from the rest of the onsen that they shouldn’t disturb anyone before they were awake.

And besides really wanting Victor there, Yuuri didn’t want to disturb _anyone_ with this. He’d made such a point to not have his core be even a small deal – let alone a big influence – in his life and he didn’t actually want that to change, not now that he was facing such a pivotal point in his skating career. He didn’t want to let anyone down because of _this_.

He just needed to convey that to Wataru, Shion, and Nezumi.

“Want to tell me again why this couldn’t wait until a decent hour? Oh, right, you haven’t actually given me a reason,” Nezumi was saying from his spot next to the door.

He was always positioned somewhere that controlled access to the room, Yuuri had noticed.

Wataru did actually look a little sheepish at the declaration. “It seemed like there was an opportunity and I didn’t want it to pass by. To be fair, I woke up Shion. _You_ could have gone back to bed.”

Nezumi just gave Wataru a raised eyebrow. “Ignoring the fact that I have a healthy understanding of just how Yuichi would make decent progress in destroying me if I left you exposed like that, who’s officially a combatant here?”

Wataru suddenly became more serious, Nezumi following the cues immediately. “This isn’t official.”

That surprised Yuuri. No matter how much Wataru had claimed he would treat what Yuuri had said as outside his duties, to actually have his actions support that was a different level of unexpected. People could make promises all day, but to follow through was more difficult. And while Yuuri tended to believe in people, give them the benefit of the doubt, he did still tend to gravitate toward the pessimistic side of the spectrum of reality.

It was something Phichit tended to get a lot of amusement out of.

“What’s going on, Wataru?” Shion asked and Yuuri noticed that he was only now starting to pick up on the sharpness of Shion’s gaze that he was used to seeing. That was a good indicator that the young man was about as much of a morning person as Yuuri was.

“I was talking with Yuuri and he revealed that he didn’t actually know he was a Chimera,” Wataru explained and Yuuri was even more surprised that he’d omitted telling them that Yuuri had also revealed the disposition that he did know about.

And that had obviously been a surprise to both Nezumi and Shion because they were looking like they didn’t completely believe Wataru. Wataru obviously picked up on that as well because he quickly looked irritated.

“Not that I don’t completely appreciate the lack of confidence in competently doing a part of my usual job but maybe you should consider that your experience with cores isn’t always the case.”

Yuuri frowned, not quite understanding and deciding that it wouldn’t hurt to ask, especially after talking with Wataru and finding out he seemed to be more willing to divulge information than Yuuri had originally given him credit for. “What do you mean by that?”

Wataru looked back toward Yuuri and crossed his arms but it seemed to be him considering what to say instead of closing off to Yuuri.

“Having a core awaken is usually a very obvious event, even if it’s not in response to a dangerous or traumatic situation. Every core that awakens changes how the body works in multiple ways. Maybe it wasn’t so obvious because you’re an athlete and so your body is already more accustomed to not needing to work so hard to accomplish things other people struggle to but either way, there should have been something to tip you off that you were ignoring more than one core. And especially considering the passive disposition you know about, having something else nagging at your control should have been an issue.”

Yuuri carefully considered if there had been anything he noticed to tip him off as to the presence of a second core within him. And what Wataru was describing matched up pretty closely to how difficult it usually was to keep some measure of control over his Empathy.

If he were honest, Yuuri didn’t think he actually controlled his Empathy, merely mitigated its effects on him to some degree. He always struggled against it, always had emotions that weren’t his bleeding into him.

Maybe that’s why he didn’t notice anything, because he didn’t have the level of control Wataru thought he should.

“Which core does he know the disposition of?” Shion asked.

“Cardiac.”

“Interesting. Those are usually the ones more difficult to recognize.”

Yuuri didn’t feel like letting Shion get too far into some speculation as to why he didn’t know.

“It’s Empathy. From what I can tell, it awakened when I was a kid and I was able to use some of the tricks and mental discipline I picked up as a figure skater to help keep what I feel at least subdued. But I didn’t actually know it was a core until a few years after it first awakened so a second one forming and me not knowing about it isn’t exactly beyond what is apparently the norm for me.”

He’d gotten a little curt about what he’d said towards the end and he felt his cheeks flush slightly. He didn’t want to make it seem to these guys that he wasn’t willing to accept their help now that the situation wasn’t what he thought it was. But he also felt like they were just looking at things generally and not at him and his situation and he didn’t think that would be of any help.

“You’re an Empath,” Shion stated as his only response before he looked like he was getting lost in thought. “There aren’t many Empaths that become Chimeras.”

“So?” Nezumi prompted.

Shion gave his partner a tolerant look before answering, reminding Yuuri of how Celestino would look at him sometimes when Yuuri would start evaluating his own performances. “There are a few dispositions that have been found to simply not be very compatible with other cores awakening in the same person. Either because of how the cores interact with the body or the thought process it takes to command them, some cores just make the user’s body fail. It’s why there are so few Paladins that are Chimeras, because the physical and mental strain of that one core is usually as much as the human body can take.”

“And Empathy is like that?”

“Perhaps similar. Empathy is only really useful in someone who is capable of processing their own thoughts and emotions proficiently or they simply become overwhelmed by what everyone else feels and they can’t even get around to their own. It puts constant stress on the body and a second core would only exacerbate that. So, Empathy just doesn’t show up in many Chimeras. In fact, I’ve only heard of one Chimera that included an Empath core that succeeded in balancing the abilities of multiple dispositions.”

“Ever?” Wataru asked, barely beating Yuuri to saying so.

“Likely not ever but the only one I’ve heard of.” He crossed his arms then and gave a slight shrug. “Though it should be kept in mind that just like today, only the people who choose to discuss their accomplishments with their cores do. Regulation of reporting the presence of a core didn’t extend to maintaining records of abilities. I’ve found ways of research that gives me a little more all-inclusive idea but that doesn’t make up the difference of an actual void of information like this.”

“We’re not exactly ones to talk about averages and norms, Shion,” Nezumi said in a lower tone that Yuuri picked up was more of a habit of speaking about something likely very private. “None of us.”

“Then we should just be grateful that we’re the ones that it happened to come to,” Wataru interjected. “There are other Devas and agents that could have very easily been the ones to be looking into this and it’s likely they don’t have as much of a vested interest in maintaining any privacy Yuuri wants.”

There was a flare of irritation and defensiveness from Nezumi before he ground out, “Watch it, Wataru. ‘Understanding’ doesn’t mean we should just reveal all.”

But Wataru just met his gaze with a determined one of his own. “You choose what to do with your secrets and I’ll respect that but don’t tell me what to do with mine. Maybe try giving me a little more credit.”

“We are all simply trying to approach this in an informed state. But we also can’t completely dismiss that your patience is already compromised, Wataru, possibly even your decision-making. That is why we’re being more cautious than normal.” Shion’s tone was careful, placating, but Yuuri felt that it didn’t do any good. Wataru was becoming even more irate.

But he was also becoming very purposefully immobile. His breathing was measured, reminding Yuuri of the drills he put himself through, and his fingers clenched into his arms a few times before he uncrossed his arms and let them hang at his sides.

“I’m not that compromised,” he ground out and Yuuri watched as Nezumi shifted just a bit closer to Shion before seeming to catch himself and relaxed back.

This was all Yuuri’s fault. This was happening because they were here investigating him. Maybe if he’d just sealed his core when he first found out about it, this wouldn’t have happened. The only reason he hadn’t was because sealing a core when you were a civilian and not an Oni was actually a pretty involved process that he’d decided was more difficult than just learning to tolerate the sensations he picked up from others. And the further he’d gotten in the practice and training he did for his skating, the more it seemed he didn’t notice things he shouldn’t so it was even less of an issue.

But now look at his situation…

“I’m sorry for causing this trouble,” he found himself saying before he could consider if it was what he should have said. But he truly meant it and he’d always believed that a true apology was never a waste.

The other three looked over toward him with varying levels of surprise, Nezumi quickly becoming amused while Shion was curious.

“There’s nothing for you to be sorry about, Yuuri.” Shion replied and Yuuri didn’t doubt that he believed that.

Wataru shoved his hands in his pockets, looking a hit sheepish, like all the irritation and frustration had drained out of him because Yuuri had said anything. He let out a deep sigh and muttered, “I told you I was on edge.” He then took in another deep breath and that appeared to help him regain his composure. Yuuri figured this was the training of someone who had to maintain control or he risked injuring others. “Yuuri, do you want to try and figure out your other disposition? If nothing else, we can narrow it down a little and get you started working on ways to make sure it stays under control and you aren’t in danger or putting anyone else in danger.”

Did he? Would that be enough? Would that be all he needed to do to be able to go back to his life ignoring that he was a user?

“How would you try to determine the disposition?” he asked to buy himself some time to think.

“It’s hard to explain. Basically, it would just be an extended observation until we caught something that would tell us for sure the disposition. There’s a hint of it in your eyes and there aren’t many visual based dispositions and knowing that it’s centered in the left hemisphere of your brain will narrow that down even further. If nothing else, we can give an educated guess. Between Shion and I, we know enough about dispositions to get that much right. But it’s up to you, Yuuri. If you don’t want us to, we’ll drop it.”

“Wataru…” Shion began but the Deva shook his head.

“It wouldn’t be the first time my report was turned in declaring the disposition to still be unknown. There are no laws that require people to know what their disposition is and I uphold that. I do whatever I can to help the people I investigate have the life they want. And Yuuri hasn’t indicated once that he likes being a user so I’m definitely not going to force anything.”

Nezumi reached out and squeezed at Shion’s bicep to get his attention. “We’re not here for our job, Shion. It’s Wataru’s call. Now isn’t the time for you to need to know everything.”

Shion looked over toward Nezumi, Yuuri not needing to be on the receiving end of those red eyes to know he wanted to press the point he wanted to make but Nezumi had made his point well.

These two were so familiar with each other, obviously having spent a lot of time with each other and they didn’t need a strong and stable affinity to tell Yuuri that.

But now it was back to Yuuri to choose if he wanted to learn more about his cores and abilities or not. Because he didn’t do anything by halves. Once he made a decision, he committed to it and would see it through to completion, whatever that would mean in this case.

Was going through with sealing his cores an option now? He didn’t think there were any sort of limitations on sealing but he hadn’t exactly looked anything up and certainly not recently. And considering that a lot of progress had been made in the understanding of cores over the last few decades, that could make a difference in the answer.

Was there any harm to be done in _knowing_? That was certainly a huge factor in all this, if there was more potential for harm in learning more or remaining ignorant. And he was smart enough to know that ignorance rarely led to anything good. Because he’d thought he’d known what he needed to know before, that he knew that he had an Empathy core but now he knew that wasn’t everything and so to remain in the dark about his other core would be choosing ignorance.

That didn’t sit well with him.

He looked between the other three, determined in his decision. “I’d like to try.”

“We should be able to keep things from changing too much for you if you want.”

“Yeah, please. I just…I don’t want to make anything different if I don’t have to, not being in the middle of competition.” The start of his season had already garnered him more attention than he was used to and this would definitely just boost that even more.

Yuuri liked competing, not being the center of attention. To say he tolerated a lot to do what he did as a competitive figure skater – interviews and social media for example – was a bit of an understatement.

Wataru looked toward Shion as he asked, “There are, what, three dispositions centered in the left hemisphere that can be picked up in the eyes?”

“Four but without discharge in the right hemisphere that leaves out Beholder.”

“Right. So we’re looking at Seer, Reaper, or Weaver.”

Yuuri felt his cheeks flush and his eyes dropped as he admitted, “I don’t know what those do.”

“That’s alright. Not everyone learns much about dispositions,” Shion said with a kind smile. “Seers are considered a little more reliable than Clairvoyants in their ability to identify cores and dispositions. They can intuit dispositions without seeing them before, identify power levels, pick out the connections between a user and their core to determine abilities, and many can even track how old a user was when they awakened.”

Nezumi cut in then. “Yeah, I’ll take a Clairvoyant any day. Seers can give you an idea of what abilities the person is capable of learning but they aren’t so reliable on interpreting in the person has actually _learned_ how to access or control that ability. They see potential, not current state.”

“You’re just biased towards Clairvoyants because it’s what you’re used to having around with me,” Shion declared.

“But I’m not actually wrong,” Nezumi countered with a smirk and Shion didn’t respond so he might have ultimately agreed.

So that was Shion’s disposition, a Clairvoyant. Yuuri had heard of Wataru’s but hadn’t had the conversation comfortably lead to learning what Shion was capable of. Though he then remembered that Shion had mentioned being a Chimera and so that was only one of his dispositions.

Shion turned his attention back to Yuuri quickly. “If you are a Seer, it might explain why you haven’t noticed anything because of your need for glasses. A Seer’s ability is dependent on being able to see a person with the naked eye only; it doesn’t work looking through glasses or contacts.”

“See? Inferior,” Nezumi stated as he took on a smug look.

Wataru spoke then, though it was obvious he was at least amused by Nezumi on this matter. “Seers aren’t as common as Clairvoyants but they are at the most simply uncommon and not considered a rare disposition. Reapers are closer to being rare but it’s not so cut-and-dry with them. Reapers are aware of death but there’s such a variety in how accurate that awareness is or if they can perceive it reliably that the rarity comes in finding a useful Reaper, to be blunt about it.”

Shion took over, obviously one accustomed to passing along details to others, “Most report just having a feeling that something is wrong, like they will see someone and they’ll just get a bad feeling about them. And the less familiar the Reaper is with an individual, the less they are able to tell just why they are uneasy. On the other hand, powerful or skilled Reapers have reported even being able to perceive the manner of someone’s death with complete accuracy.”

“The really powerful ones aren’t even thrown by resuscitation, which is usually the bane of a Reaper’s abilities. And where some Reapers might see a near-death experience or a wound that would be fatal without treatment, that doesn’t mean anything to a very powerful and skilled Reaper. It’s about as close as someone other than a Beholder comes to being able to tell the future and that’s the whole point to Beholders is seeing the future.”

When Wataru had first started describing the Reaper, he’d wondered if that’s what was going on with his dreams, but that he was seeing people die didn’t match up to anything else Wataru and Shion had said so he wondered if he should dismiss that as what he was. His subconscious could just have a weird way of working things out. Someone dying in your dreams didn’t immediately mean you were a Reaper.

“Which leaves Weavers, which are considered to be rare. They just don’t seem to show up too often and when they do, there isn’t much place for them in any of the enforcement agencies for users so I don’t have any experience seeing them at work,” Shion explained.

“Yeah, they’re best suited for counselling jobs or something like that. Weavers can see affinities, even figure out abilities that are created between people who have an affinity, and they are the only disposition that can actually affect the strength of an affinity that isn’t their own.”

“The only reason we really know anything about affinities besides the bare essentials…” Shion started but Nezumi quickly interjected.

“Meaning we knew they existed at all,” he said and grinned as Shion let him cut in and then just continued speaking.

“…is because of Weavers that were around writing about what they experienced. If it weren’t for Weavers, it wouldn’t be common knowledge that even though an affinity forms, it still needs time to stabilize. We wouldn’t know that the stronger the affinity, the more likely it is for the connection between cores to create new abilities in the two users that is influenced by the dispositions of the other.”

“I see,” Yuuri absently replied, now disappointed that there wasn’t anything in those three that really sounded right and he couldn’t help but wonder if they were really wrong about him. He didn’t think it was just him not wanting there to be an issue any longer, either.

Something either in his tone or expression must have given him away because Shion asked, “None of these are striking you as familiar, as something you may have noticed?”

Yuuri shook his head though hesitated when he wondered if he should tell them about his dreams and see if maybe that really was something that indicated his disposition even if it didn’t match up to what they’d said. After all, even he knew that not all cores worked the same, that there was always a chance that someone would experience different abilities than the norm. That was just human.

But before he could really take a chance to think it over, hesitate any more, Wataru had turned back toward Shion and gave him a shrug.

“Back where we started, then?” he asked and Yuuri barely managed to catch the wave of disappointment before the teen appeared to have moved past it.

“Perhaps,” Shion replied absently and anyone could tell he was lost in thought. “Anyway, if it isn’t going to be easy to determine, we should try and go back to sleep, take some time to think over our options. We are in a situation I’m not really used to anymore where there isn’t a press for time to solve everything. We’re here until Wataru decides his investigation is complete or after Yuichi finishes and returns and Wataru can dismiss us but that doesn’t mean we have to rush and risk making a mistake.”

“Considering the low impact Yuuri’s cores have on his daily life, there’s not much we’re affecting no matter what happens,” Nezumi added. “I’m not used to an investigation like this anymore: no Oni is weird.”

Wataru rolled his eyes and crossed his arms again. “Yeah, well, this is exactly what I’m used to so you guys can stop complaining. And I guess we can’t do anything else tonight so Shion’s right.” Wataru turned back to Yuuri. “Try and get some rest. Stress and exhaustion don’t make for good control, especially for someone with no focused training. And a mess-up with your abilities can have you reeling for days if it’s bad enough, especially with your disposition of Empathy and having a competition coming up. Might as well not have it interfere with your life if you can avoid it.”

Yuuri nodded and turned toward the door. He doubted he was going to manage getting much more sleep, his mind racing as it was, but he should still try. The reminder of the competition quickly approaching helped him find more reason to do his best to not let all this get to him.

He wished he was more confident that he’d succeed.


	5. To Russia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite everything, Yuuri heads to Russia for the Rostelecom Cup...

Yuuri slid his skate off his foot and set it next to the other one beside him on the bench, letting out a sigh of relief as he rotated his ankles and his feet started cooling off from being in his skates for the past few hours.

They were flying to Russia tonight and Yuuri had wanted to get in as much practice as possible before everything he did would be watched by way more than just Victor.

“You finished for the day?” Wataru asked as he walked up behind Yuuri.

“Yeah, that’s it. It was a pretty good note to leave off on.” He had plenty more work to do but his last run through his routines had been solid.

Wataru and Shion had spent the past two days since they’d spoken with Yuuri on their laptops, apparently researching holes in their knowledge of cores that could help them figure out what Yuuri’s unknown disposition was. If Yuuri was at Ice Castle, they came along and set up on the benches far enough away that they could talk without disturbing Yuuri and Victor. Nezumi was around as well but he tended to stay out of the rink, making an appearance only every once in a while.

Yuuri had told Victor about what he’d talked about the other night and the Russian had seemed more accepting of the Deva and agents though Yuuri still got the feeling Victor didn’t want them around. It was weird and completely unlike Victor to so obviously not want someone around, especially when it was someone he’d just met.

“Our tickets are taken care of. We won’t be sitting with you, but we’ll be on the same flight to Moscow,” Wataru said conversationally.

Yuuri hadn’t expected Wataru to announce that morning that they would be going with him and Victor to the competition. When he’d questioned it, Shion had explained that their assignment meant they weren’t allowed to let him travel, let alone to another country, without their presence. He added that they would keep their distance, allow Yuuri to participate in his competition like they weren’t even there but he doubted he’d be able to completely dismiss Devas tailing him.

“That’s good. Do you have everything worked out for while we’re there? Hotel, transportation, the event?” Yuuri asked as he grabbed his backpack to put his skates away.

Wataru reached into his pocket to pull out and show Yuuri his Deva identification. “This is an all-access pass,” he said with a grin and Yuuri smiled in return as Wataru put his ID away. “Shion is getting in touch with the Grand Prix officials to make sure they know we’ll be there. They might give us badges just for ease. Oh, my partner is going to be meeting us there so once he gets there it’s possible that Shion and Nezumi will return home since they were only working with me because my partner was in evaluations.”

“Was he supposed to have been here sooner?” Yuuri asked as he shouldered his bag and stood.

“Yeah, he should have been here later the day after we arrived but they had to delay the evaluation for a few days and should be finishing up soon.” He let out a scoff before adding, “They’ll just see this as a better test of our affinity stability instead of a huge inconvenience to Shion and Nezumi.”

“It doesn’t seem like it’s been an inconvenience to them. They don’t seem to be upset about being here.”

“Oh, they’re fine with it. Shion likes a challenge and he used to be a Deva and doesn’t mind sort of feeling like one again by working with me. Nezumi’s a bit of a harder read because he’s pretty much always in a bad mood but he hasn’t really genuinely complained about being here. I think he’s appreciating the change of scenery. Anyway, the inconvenience is an agency thing. This isn’t the sort of work they normally do and as long as they’re here, that’s two less agents investigating Oni activity.”

There were a few bits of new information there for Yuuri. “Shion used to be a Deva?” he had to clarify. It just didn’t fit for his expectations of what a Deva should look like. Shion was a gentle person, passive, kind. And while Wataru didn’t give the physical impression of someone strong, being on the slender side so much that Yuuri had a better build, but there was this intensity to him that made you feel like he was holding back, like he could be dangerous if he wanted to be.

Wataru gave him a grin, “Doesn’t match, huh?” He held up his left hand and tapped his thumb against his middle finger. “The ring he wears is a symbol of his service to the Devas and leaving them on good terms. But Chimeras can’t be Devas.”

Yuuri considered how young Shion was and wondered just what he had faced already in his life to put him where he was now.

“Anyway, we’ll keep trying to get you an answer. Have you been having any success with those breathing and meditation exercises we went over with you?”

“Yeah, some. I think I’m getting the hang of differentiating between my core and my heartbeat.”

Shion and Wataru had been taking turns working with Yuuri for a little while in the evenings to try and help him find ways to get a more conscious handle on his Empathy, help him become a little more aware of it for the sake of figuring out how to not access it unless he wanted to. They’d claimed that they were somewhat ideal for helping teach him because they were used to restraining themselves so he wouldn’t be as likely to be feeling a lot of emotions from them to have to contend with. Yuuri couldn’t bring himself to say that he still always noticed something from them.

But a few days in and he’d already gotten a little better at noticing when what he was feeling wasn’t him but something he was picking up from someone else. That seemed important. Shion had said that the more he was aware of what was his own emotions and what came through his core, the less it would interfere with his emotions. He had also hinted that Yuuri’s anxiety might stabilize a little but there was only so much Empathy did before it was simply a matter of Yuuri’s personal struggles. Because Empathy was about understanding so the more the user understood the better they could interpret and control.

Personally, Yuuri thought that was an oversimplification of what he experienced but he didn’t think that Shion had been discrediting his experience with what he’d said, merely was expressing what he had seen in others or understood to be the norm.

“That’s good. If nothing else, we can help you with what we do know. Sometimes that’s all people need.”

“You’ve been doing this for a while, right?”

Wataru gave Yuuri a curious look before shrugging, “Been a Deva about a year, running these sort of checks for about six months. Is that a while?”

“Have you ever just not figured out what was going on with someone’s cores?”

“No, not yet. There are variations with cores, especially when you get into Chimera territory, but they do still follow rules. Just because yours doesn’t fit into a neat little box with all the other dispositions like it doesn’t mean your cores don’t follow the same rules as everyone else’s. We just need to figure out which rules it’s following and then we’ll have the disposition.”

“You sound confident enough.”

Wataru gave him a grin as he glanced up to where Shion was putting away his own laptop, talking in low tones with Nezumi. “Having Shion around is helping. He’s better at this sort of thing than me and he just knows more about cores than I ever could. If I was on my own with this, you’d be having to deal with a much more irritable aspect of my personality. I’m not actually a very patient person.”

Yuuri didn’t need to have the Empathy disposition to have picked up that much about Wataru. He kept a good lid on it most of the time but that aspect of his personality had made an appearance a few times by now. Considering what Wataru had said about his Esper core, it wasn’t a surprise that he’d figured out how to keep a tight lid on his behavior. And not having the one he had an affinity with around would be making things harder, as Wataru had said.

Victor was walking up behind Wataru, Yuuri picking up on how Victor made a point of ignoring the Deva’s presence as he stepped up in front of Yuuri, his posture and positioning almost protective in how he came between the two. “Are you ready to head back, Yuuri?” he asked as he gave Yuuri a smile, though it seemed a little forced.

“Yeah, I’m all set. I’ve got everything we’ll need for Moscow,” Yuuri answered, trying to keep an easygoing attitude in the hopes it would help Victor realize he didn’t have to be so tense around Wataru.

“Then we just need to get back and get packed and we’ll be ready to go. How are you feeling?”

“Alright.”

There was no reason to mention that he was already starting to feel anxious and he was only hoping he’d be able to sleep on the plane so his nerves didn’t start getting to him. He needed to stay calm, compete just like he did in Beijing. No, he had to be better and that wouldn’t happen if he let his imagination run wild of what it would be like to be competing against Yurio again. And J.J. And Yuuri had been watching closely enough to know that Seung-gil, Michele, and Emil were strong competition as well. If he wasn’t any less than his absolute best, he wouldn’t be going to the final.

Another hand wrapped around his and he looked up toward Victor, who was giving him a smile. “Makkachin has been waiting patiently for us to finish. Let’s not make him wait any longer. You know he’ll miss us plenty while we’re gone.”

It was a good distraction, Yuuri had to admit as he gave Victor a small smile in return and allowed himself to be pulled gently by the hand toward the door, Wataru remaining behind, possibly not ready to leave yet. He usually left a little after Yuuri anyway, another part of him and Shion keeping their distance from him while they did their work.

Yuuko and Nishigori took a few minutes to say goodbye to before Victor and Yuuri left Ice Castle, Makkachin greeting them as soon as they were outside. Yuuri was getting ready to start his jog back to the onsen but realized that Victor wasn’t actually getting on his bike to ride ahead. He was staying beside Yuuri, walking his bike up to him and then waiting for Yuuri. So, Yuuri started walking home instead of doing his usual run and Victor fell into step beside him as Makkachin walked on Yuuri’s other side, looking up at the two men a few times as if checking that this was really as fast as they were going to go.

Deciding that there was no reason not to ask, Yuuri spoke shortly after they settled into their pace. “Is something wrong, Victor?”

Victor looked over to him and gave him a smile. “Why do you ask? I just thought that we could take it slow on the way back today.”

“Okay, but what about with Wataru and Shion?” Victor didn’t answer right away and so Yuuri rambled on. “You just don’t seem comfortable around them and shut them down like I haven’t seen you do with anyone else. I just wondered if they’d said or done something to make you upset that I missed and I didn’t want you to keep being upset with them if it could be helped. I mean, they’re just here to do a job and it’s not like they’re trying to stop me doing anything.”

Victor let out a sigh, using one hand to continue steering his bike as the other reached back for Yuuri’s hand again, intertwining their fingers and squeezing Yuuri’s hand.

“Devas mean trouble, Yuuri. They don’t come around unless there is something to be concerned about and I don’t want you to get dragged into something that you shouldn’t have to deal with just because they’re here. You’ve got enough to worry about without suddenly having to worry about cores that you admitted weren’t really a concern.” Victor’s tone was becoming more insistent as he continued speaking, like he was trying to convince either Yuuri or himself of what he was saying. It was hard to tell for sure and Yuuri wasn’t getting a clear read on anything in particular from the Russian.

“I don’t feel like I’m distracted because they’re here,” Yuuri said honestly. He’d gotten used to the idea of them being there, of knowing what they were doing there and as time passed, he found himself really wanting to know what they would find. He’d chosen ignorance for a long time but now that he’d learned something about himself, he wanted to see it through to the end. How else was he supposed to improve? “And they’re doing their best to not interfere with my routine or preparation for the competition.” Yuuri looked down to the pavement in front of him before adding, “I really want them to be able to figure it all out. I feel like knowing will help me out, give me one less thing to have on my mind.”

“You didn’t even know you were a Chimera until they told you so. You knew about the Empathy core and that is the one that you have had to deal with learning to cope with.”

“But what if it _has_ been affecting me and I just attributed it to the Empathy messing with me?” Yuuri squeezed Victor’s hand and reached across with his free hand to brush his fingers against Victor’s wrist as well, following the urge to have more contact with him. “I just can’t not know something like this about myself anymore. You’ve helped me so much these past few months, allowed me to see myself in a different way, and I feel like this is just part of that. I want to know what my other disposition is.”

Victor was quiet for a while after that, thoughtful. He kept hold of Yuuri the whole time, his thumb rubbing along the back of Yuuri’s hand absently. When he spoke, Yuuri hadn’t been expecting him to say anything more. “You believe Wataru when he says he’ll respect your decision when he does find out what your disposition is? You don’t believe he will try to force you into anything you don’t want to do?”

Yuuri looked over to Victor, somewhat surprised. Was that why Victor had been so closed off toward the Deva? He thought Wataru would make Yuuri leave or join the Devas? Not that he could join as a Chimera but they hadn’t known that when they’d first met.

“Yes, I believe him,” Yuuri replied resolutely because he did. “Wataru isn’t here to try and convince me to do anything I don’t want to do.”

Yuuri got the feeling Wataru had enough experience with that. It was in a complex mix of emotions Yuuri had picked up on the few times that he’d talked about being a Deva. Wataru was with the Devas because they had something that he needed – training – and he was loyal but didn’t have any extreme dedication to the organization.

Victor gave him an accepting nod before he moved Yuuri’s hand up toward his mouth and placed a kiss on the back of his knuckles. “Then I won’t object to them being here.”

Yuuri used his free hand to scratch at the back of his head nervously. “How about in Moscow?”

“What?”

“You’re fine with them being in Moscow, too, right? Because they need to go with us. Travel has already been worked out and they’ll probably be cleared to go just about anywhere during the event.”

Victor let out a groan and said something in Russian that Yuuri didn’t recognize. “I thought because this has nothing to do with Oni that they wouldn’t be required to follow you _everywhere_. Fine, but they keep their distance. Hanging around while you’re practicing is one thing but when you’re competing is a completely different matter.”

Yuuri couldn’t help but feel a swell of happiness at Victor defending him like this. He was literally drawing a line against a Deva for Yuuri’s sake and that wasn’t something Yuuri thought many people would do. He tugged on Victor’s hand to get him to pause enough so Yuuri could step in closer, then rose up to the balls of his feet as he leaned over to kiss Victor’s cheek. “It may be unnecessary looking out for me in this situation but I do still appreciate the thought.”

Victor didn’t exactly look happy about that. “I’m being serious about the Devas meaning trouble. Even if they don’t mean to, they can be like an announcement to Oni that there is something around that deserves their attention. They don’t have to mean you harm to bring it your way. I wouldn’t want to see you dragged into their fight because they happen to be around.”

What fight would happen because of Wataru – a Deva Initiate conducting what he’d admitted was a routine investigation – and Shion and Nezumi – a pair of U.E.A. agents who were only there because Wataru couldn’t work alone – being around? Yuuri didn’t have anything to offer any Oni. He just felt like he would have noticed if he was capable of something useful to them.

The rest of the day passed smoothly enough, Yuuri ending up spending a good amount of his downtime Skyping with Phichit. With his friend’s place in the finals also being determined by this competition, he was feeling about as much pressure as the six competitors. Yuuri had ended up doing as much consoling as he’d been consoled and it felt a little strange to be at a place mentally where he felt he could help Phichit calm down instead of barely keeping himself together by now.

He ate dinner with Victor, Mari, and Minako, surprised that he didn’t see Wataru, Shion, or Nezumi through dinner. He’d gotten curious enough that he’d asked his mom and she’d told him that there had been a change in plans and they had already left. When he couldn’t help but show how surprised he was about that, his mom had elaborated that they had told her that they were making a stop on the way, not flying directly to Russia and they had decided that they preferred leaving before Yuuri rather than arriving after him.

He wondered what they had to do that made it seem like a contradiction to their declaration that they had to stay near him until they closed the investigation and what could have changed since speaking to Wataru earlier that day where they had expected to leave at the same time. He dismissed it enough to not obsess over it by reminding himself that he really didn’t know how the Devas worked.

Before he knew it, Victor was saying goodbye to Makkachin and he was giving his parents a quick hug and enduring Minako’s final grumbling that she wasn’t going before they were getting into the cab and heading for the airport. Then they were flying for just over the next twelve hours, Yuuri thankfully able to sleep for quite a bit of it.

When they arrived in Moscow, they went to go get something to eat before heading to their hotel and checking in and dropping off their bags before Yuuri decided to head to the rink to see it. He hadn’t competed in Russia before and he liked to see the venue before he had to get on the ice, even for practice. Victor had stayed behind since it was just going to be a quick stop and they were right next door to the arena.

Yuuri had been returning to his room when he heard his name being called. He turned and saw Wataru and Shion stepping around a few people to head toward him.

“You made it alright,” Yuuri said easily as he waited for them to reach him.

When Shion replied, he was speaking in Japanese and it momentarily threw Yuuri to hear it. They’d adapted to speaking in English while at Hasetsu because of Yuuri always talking in English around Victor and he’d been surrounded by hearing people speaking Russian all day. “We were just on our way to the hotel to check in when we saw you,” Shion explained.

“Where’s Nezumi?” Yuuri asked, taking another glance around just in case he’d missed seeing the agent. It wouldn’t have been the first time.

“He’s getting us checked in and clearing the room and then he’ll make a quick sweep of yours and Victor’s room,” Wataru answered. “You might want to give him a heads up so he’ll actually let Nezumi in.”

Yuuri smiled as he pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Victor, just in case Nezumi did beat them back to the room. “I gotta say, I was surprised that you left before us. I thought you were supposed to stay close.”

Wataru gave a dismissive shrug. “We’d arranged to talk to someone who knows a little better about the dispositions we’re checking into and she would only do a face-to-face. It was just easier to take care of it while you were home and then flying.”

Yuuri almost didn’t want to ask, but their answer might mean the end of their need to stick around. “Did you learn anything that helps figure out my disposition?”

Shion answered, “Maybe. But to know for sure, we’d need to work with you to experiment a little and we all agreed that it can wait until after your competition. We don’t want to do anything that would mess you up. We’re not here to cause you any trouble.”

Shion and Wataru were completely calm, Yuuri felt. They truly felt like there was nothing to worry about either by what they learned or even by being here instead of in Hasetsu.

He nodded, feeling some relief; he figured if it was anything they were worried about they would have wanted to take care of things right away instead of letting it go on for any longer. And if they weren’t worried, he could not worry about it and just compete.

“For now, we need to meet with some of the event officials and get passes so we don’t have to have our identifications out, announcing ourselves as law enforcement on official duty to everyone who stops us to ask. We’ll be aiming for you not seeing us for the duration of the competition and not make you think about what’s going on by seeing us whenever you turn around.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that,” Yuuri said, giving a slight bow to emphasize that he meant it.

“Good luck with the competition,” Shion added with a kind smile. “I hope you do well.”

“Thanks.”

The two passed by Yuuri with a brief wave and continued on toward the arena, Yuuri watching them for a few seconds before turning back to walk toward the hotel.

He really hoped that nothing happened that made it necessary for them to be there. He just wanted to finish the Rostelecom Cup, place high enough to go to the Finals, and finish off the season with Victor with minimal focus given to his cores.

* * *

Wataru had to admit that watching a figure skating competition was a lot more interesting than he had given it credit for. Even from his spot high in the stands – keeping his distance with Shion like they had promised – he’d been impressed by what he saw in every single one of the competitors as they took to the ice.

Sure, he’d picked up some of the details of skating from listening to Victor and Yuuri talking about his programs and one of the days Shion had asked Yuuri to go into the different kinds of jumps that they’d watched him work on for hours. Wataru had wanted to ask and had been grateful that his friend had simply beaten him to it. The difference between watching Yuuri and Victor practice and seeing everything in actual competition where it all mattered in a completely different way was exciting.

Wataru had never found it so easy to forget that he was only here because he was working.

And Yuuri competing wasn’t what they’d been expecting and they’d even seen video of him competing just a short time before in China. He was exactly what his program needed him to be, without the fluster and anxiety that they saw the rest of the time.

That had been yesterday during the Short Program. Today was the performance of the Free Skate and Victor had returned to Japan to take care of his dog at Yuuri’s insistence. And Nezumi had gone with Victor at Shion’s. When Wataru had asked why considering Victor only had anything to do with their investigation because he happened to be Yuuri’s coach, Shion had simply said that they needed to cover all bases.

And Nezumi had only agreed to go anyway because Yuichi was there with them and he’d admitted that the Paladin was about the only one he trusted to do an acceptable job watching over Shion in his absence.

Yuichi had gotten to Moscow in the early morning and had been practically attached to Wataru until they had to split up to take care of their individual responsibilities once the competition started, Wataru keeping his distance and Yuichi staying closer to the rink, able to be anywhere Yuuri could see him because they hadn’t met.

Unfortunately, because they hadn’t met, Yuichi wasn’t able to use one of his most valuable abilities as a Paladin that he’d been developing over the past year of being able to sense danger once it existed toward anyone he knew. It had used to work only with people he was close to or cared about but he’d developed the ability enough, his core gaining power as he aged, that he merely had to come into physical contact with someone once to activate the ability.

But Yuichi was still someone who knew how to read people, who was used to looking for people behaving strangely or like they were targeting someone, and he could still watch over Yuuri.

The other Yuri, the Russian one that Yuuri had said had trained in Japan with him and Victor for a while and sort of saw the Japanese skater as a rival because they had the same name, was in the middle of his routine and then it would be Yuuri’s turn.

“Wataru, I have to ask if you are certain you want to ask Yuuri to go through with the test?” Shion suddenly asked him and he turned toward the agent.

They’d stopped in Tokyo to speak with a friend of Shion’s, Safu, who was one of the leading researchers in Chimeras. The project she’d been working on hadn’t allowed her to travel to meet them so they had just gone to her. She was a genius, like Shion, and her choice of profession might have seemed odd considering she didn’t have a core except she knew what Shion was hiding. She’d taken her education based around psychology and neurology and had applied it to how the multiple cores of Chimeras influenced each other and what that meant to abilities.

She’d asked if they had noticed anything unusual since meeting Yuuri, both refusing and sticking to their stance that the odd part was that none of the normal indicators of certain dispositions were present in Yuuri’s second core.

Wataru had considered telling Safu of the dream he’d had before speaking to Yuuri that night but had decided that there had been no reason to think it was actually connected to Yuuri. Despite it happening over a year ago by now, he still had dreams about the Oni that had been sent after him by Hajime who hadn't been apprehended. That had to have been all it was.

Safu had replied that if the simple methodology didn’t work, they had the means to try the more complicated options.

Wataru knew she had likely been referring to Shion’s Mirror core to identify Yuuri’s disposition even though that would still leave a lot of guesswork as Shion usually Mirrored a core he knew the disposition of. But instead of considering that, Wataru had decided that his Ouroboros core would be the better option. He had trained enough with it to figure out a single disposition and Yuuri likely didn’t know enough about cores to identify what Wataru did and be a risk to his secret being kept.

Even so, he hadn’t told Yuichi was they were planning on doing.

Yuichi would never agree to it, would think it was too dangerous.

Wataru loved Yuichi and he loved how Yuichi just wanted him to be safe, but it was his core and he didn’t have to ask permission to do something with it.

“Wataru?” Shion asked again and Wataru realized he’d gotten a little lost in thought for who knew how long.

“Of course I’m sure. I wouldn’t have suggested it otherwise. Not that there’s much risk in getting on any Oni’s radar doing this but if there was, the Oni we’re worried about already know about me. You’re the one that’s still a secret, that they need to keep thinking is dead.”

Shion gave him a very disgruntled look for that but Wataru shrugged it off. It was the truth and Shion knew it.

Shion eventually let out a deep sigh, sounding weary, “You know the risks, what it would mean if your Ouroboros core was exposed to anyone who would tell the Devas.” Wataru would be immediately placed in protective custody, everything about his life and identity as Wataru Fujii erased and he wouldn’t be allowed to have any contact with his family or friends, only Yuichi because they had an affinity. And that would be for the rest of his life, all his choices having to go through filters of someone else determining if it was safe or not.

And that wasn’t even taking into consideration if there would be any punishment for deceiving the Devas by learning how to keep a core hidden from their evaluations and Clairvoyants and Seers.

“Just what are you going to do anyway? I didn’t know Ouroboros could actually identify dispositions.”

“You’re just a Clairvoyant but you can identify cores by watching how a core’s power moves through the body when being used.” Shion looked away and down toward the rink where Yuuri was finishing up his program. “It’s not actually too different than how I tell. Dispositions feel the same, like being able to tell the breed of a dog by certain traits. If I haven’t come across it before, I’ll still be in the dark and then we’ll consider your Mirror core.”

“Can you identify the ones it’s most likely to be? The ones we discussed with Yuuri?”

“Yeah, if it’s one of those, I’ll recognize it. I’ve been in contact with all of those.”

“This would be so much easier if he just had _any_ experience activating abilities.”

“But he doesn’t so we work with what we have.”

The earpiece Wataru had in his left ear let out a short burst of quiet static, telling him a mic had been turned on just before Yuichi’s voice filled his ear and he felt the rush of relaxation. “Shion, just how good is your vision?” Yuichi asked.

Shion turned on his mic to reply, “How good do you need it to be?” He sounded cautious.

“Something’s been bothering me for the past hour. Not necessarily any danger being directed towards anyone I know but just like there’s something here that shouldn’t be. I was just wondering if you could do a scan of the crowd to see if there are any Oni here.”

Wataru frowned and then turned on his own mic. “Not to be dismissive of our job or anything but Oni have lives too. They have hobbies that aren’t always focused completely around death and destruction. We aren’t here to point fingers at every Oni we come across and neither is Shion.”

“Shion?” Yuichi prompted again, apparently ignoring Wataru.

“From how many people there are and how far I am away from most of them, I’d only be able to tell you there were people who have taken actions that would mark their discharge. I wouldn’t be able to isolate it to anyone, identify them.”

“That’s enough. You can tell if someone has taken more Oni actions than someone else, right?”

“Yes, the discharge becomes more tainted and would be stronger.”

“That’s what we’re looking for.”

“Give me a moment.”

Shion stepped up to the railing, resting his hands on the metal absently as he blinked a few times, each blink following a slight pulse from the faint glow of his core just behind his right temple that Wataru could see that revealed his Clairvoyant core centered in the right hemisphere of his brain. The blinking was Shion separating what he saw between different levels of accessing his abilities. His unique ability of identifying Oni by seeing taints to their core discharge - something no one else had ever been recorded to be capable of - was a process of activating only certain parts of his Clairvoyant core and it was a very purposeful ability to activate.

Apparently, before he’d nearly been killed by an Oni who disconnected Shion’s core from him, the ability had been like flipping on a light switch. He’d put a lot of work into rediscovering it and he still held out hope that he could figure out a way to get that old ease back, even going on five years after that attack.

Wataru could tell when Shion succeeded in activating the ability as he started sweeping the crowd with purposeful, methodical attention. He started with the opposite side of the arena, gradually working his way closer to where they stood. He didn’t rush and Wataru trusted him to check everything he could see. After all, Shion was the type of person to make sure he had all the answers he could get and it was something he relied on heavily in his work.

“Yuichi, I’m seeing just over a dozen Oni, though I wouldn’t say any of them have done anything very serious or are repeat offenders. And none of them are sitting together; each one is a small enough signature to only be an individual discharge.”

That was a good indication of Shion knowing things to look for that some others might not. He knew that their biggest concern, for running into Oni that were seeking out rare cores, had been working together more often since Shion was exposed to them when he was sixteen.

There was a heavy sigh from Yuichi. “Nothing is catching your attention?”

“I’m sorry, no. But I can’t see everyone from here, only most of the spectators. It’s possible that there is a threat that is simply outside of my line of vision.”

Wataru couldn’t tell if Shion was just trying to placate Yuichi or not. He was just as likely to be doing that as he was to be genuinely making a point of an alternative as to why Yuichi was on edge. It would just be a matter of what he thought would be more beneficial to their situation.

“Or my separation from Wataru still hasn’t stabilized and I’m just sensitive to the fact that he’s across the same building when instincts are saying he should be right next to me.”

“Yes, that’s also a possibility. It was your first separation and, as a Paladin, you would be more sensitive to it. I won’t deactivate my Clairvoyant core. And with the competition finishing up and once the medals are awarded, we’ll be coming down to your level and I’ll be able to see things a bit closer, keep a better eye on things closer to what you may be picking up on.”

Now Shion was placating Yuichi. He was being honest but he was still giving things a bit more focus than they needed.

“You might want to still keep your distance once you’re down here. Katsuki has been sort of off since he finished with his program.”

Wataru wasn’t surprised that Yuichi would have noticed something was different with Yuuri and have it be accurate, regardless of not knowing him well: Yuichi was better about reading people like that than either Shion or Wataru were. He simply had better people skills than they did.

“Got it. We’ll head down soon,” Wataru replied just before he turned his mic back off, Shion doing the same. “How about you?” he asked and got a curious look from Shion. “How are you doing about being separated from Nezumi?”

Shion turned around and leaned his back against the railing. “Our affinity is about five years old. It isn’t as sensitive as yours and Yuichi’s.” He went silent and Wataru waited him out, knowing he had more to say that he was working out. “I’m stable but I feel his absence. I’d grown to rely on him just being there even before our affinity took hold and I’m very much aware that he simply isn’t with me, even if it’s just in my heart.”

He certainly sounded rough, even tired and Wataru just hoped that they hadn’t made a mistake choosing to separate Shion and Nezumi right now.

Hopefully Yuichi wasn’t really picking up on a threat they would have to deal with.


	6. Their Job

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri finishes competing only to face his next challenge...

Yuuri relaxed back against the railing, finishing off the last of the piroshki he’d been genuinely surprised to receive from Yurio. The Russian skater was just full of surprises. Pleasant surprises but surprises nonetheless. Yuuri wouldn’t have thought that Yurio would have known his birthday. Sure, all the skaters’ birthdays were found easily enough on their official profiles – let alone social media - and Yuuri knew the birthdays of the skaters he was friends with but he didn’t expect Yurio to care enough to either look or remember. Nothing against him, it’s just how he had a singular focus on his skating and their relationship was, at the absolute best, complicated.

Maybe he’d changed more than Yuuri had realized and he’d been remiss in not noticing sooner.

Even now, Yurio had hung around even after giving Yuuri his gift and even though they’d remained in silence for the past few moments. Well, if he was going for different actions than Yuuri expected, maybe Yurio needed some company after losing out to JJ, like he’d said. And Yuuri didn’t mind offering that, not when he was missing Victor so much right now and not entirely pleased with how things had turned out even if he did place high enough to go on to the Finals.

He knew Wataru and Shion were nearby but they’d continued to keep their distance even after the competition had ended, Yuuri only catching a glimpse here and there of Shion’s unique features in the crowd. But they hadn’t approached him again yet and Yuuri wondered if something had happened that was keeping them away.

He folded up the bag the piroshkis had been in and slid it into his jacket pocket, then rotated his left arm around, trying to work out the stiffness in it that hadn’t gone away in the last few days. He must have landed on it wrong in one of his falls. Though it didn’t feel like any hard fall he’d taken before but he just didn’t know what else it could be.

“Yuuko keeps texting me about the competition, saying how good of a job I did,” Yurio suddenly said, keeping distance between himself and Yuuri as he shoved his hands deep into his pockets.

Yuuri smiled at his best friend just being herself. It was that same genuine kindness that had drawn Yuuri to her and that he appreciated so much now. “She wanted to come and support us but she couldn’t with Ice Castle and the triplets to consider. But not even Minako managed to be able to take the time off to come.”

Yurio scoffed. “I’m fine not having to deal with that lunatic.”

Yuuri laughed, pretty sure that Yurio wasn’t exaggerating his opinion of Minako. She could be intense, though it made for an interesting balance to Yuuri.

“She is planning on coming to the Finals, though. She declared that months ago and I’m pretty sure she told all of Hasetsu.”

He’d said it so casually that he was actually surprised when it sort of clicked that he would be in the Finals for her to support as well as Yurio. He’d been aware of the fact that he’d qualified as soon as JJ finished his Free Skate but it was actually starting to sink in now.

He had about a month to get ready.

He had another month with Victor.

“If you do anything less than your best, I’ll kick your ass into the next decade,” Yurio threatened. “That way, when I beat you, you’ll never doubt that I’m better than you and you’ll do what you should have done before the season started and retire your little piggy ass.”

It was a genuine challenge, different than him outright telling Yuuri to retire after the Final last year, different than the constant threats he gave while they were in Hasetsu, and even different than when he’d declared he’d win before this competition. Yuuri wasn’t sure if he deserved this change in how he was approached by Yurio, not with how he’d performed.

Because Yurio had been right: he needed to step up his performance and couldn’t let Victor’s presence or absence be the reason he succeeded. He’d nearly worked through it through his Free Skate but he’d still stumbled when he shouldn’t have. He needed more.

“Right,” he settled on agreeing, though his tone did come out firm and didn’t falter.

Yurio turned to leave but didn’t get more than a few steps before he paused and Yuuri turned toward the Russian to see why.

Someone was standing a few meters away, staring at the two of them. The hood of his jacket was pulled forward enough that it was difficult to see his features but Yuuri was immediately suspicious of him. Something about how he felt was just wrong to Yuuri and his heartrate started to increase at the man’s presence.

Was it something his Empathy core was picking up that he just hadn’t felt before so he didn’t know how to interpret it?

“What are you looking at?” Yurio demanded irately and Yuuri was immensely grateful that the Russian was there.

The stranger didn’t say anything, simply stood there continuing to watch the two of them and Yuuri felt the stronger urge to leave. He stepped up next to Yurio and reached out to place his hand on the crook of Yurio’s elbow. “Let’s just go, Yurio,” he suggested, keeping his eyes on the stranger.

“So you’re the one I marked,” the stranger said before Yurio could reply, speaking in Japanese. Yuuri felt even more of an urge to leave at receiving the sensation of the man’s amusement mixed with a strange blend of emotions that came to hostility.

“I don’t know you. You must have us confused with someone else,” Yuuri replied, feeling bad for switching over to Japanese since it meant Yurio wouldn’t know what they were saying but he didn’t know if the man spoke English.

“Oh, I don’t know you. But I’m not confused. You’re the one I marked, no doubt about that. What I don’t know is what the hell you did.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Like I said, I don’t know you.”

“If you aren’t the one I’m looking for, how are you marked?”

Yuuri took a step back, keeping his hand on Yurio’s arm and the Russian skater stepped back as well. Where was Wataru and Shion? Weren’t they supposed to be here looking out for him?

“What do you mean ‘marked’? I don’t have any sort of marks on me.”

He didn’t. He had a few bruises in various stages of healing but he could account for where every one of those came from, knew which fall had caused each one.

The man let out a frustrated groan and started walking towards them. “I don’t have time for this. You want to give me shit, I’ll just increase the effects of the mark.”

Yurio, who had been obviously irritated up until now by the conversation continuing without him, suddenly exclaimed in Russian and while Yuuri didn’t know what he said, he recognized the tone and figured it wasn’t anything he wanted to understand.

The stranger paused for a few seconds and then let out a laugh, the sound chilling. “What do you think either of you all-powerful figure skaters can do to me? Or is that just your guard dog getting ready to bite?”

“No, that’s my job.”

Yuuri looked to their left, across the street where Wataru, Shion, and another young man Yuuri didn’t recognize were making their way across the street toward them, angling to come in closer to Yuuri.

There was a short pause before the stranger muttered, “You…” though Yuuri wasn’t sure it was loud enough for the others to hear and he couldn’t tell who the man had meant that about.

“What’s going on, piggy? Who are these guys?” Yurio demanded in English.

“Devas. I think that guy is an Oni,” Yuuri said in a low voice. Yurio looked shocked and then he looked as ready to take the stranger on as he had been before. “We should stay out of it.”

“Under the authority of the User Enforcement Agency, you are recognized as an Oni and we will detain you,” Shion declared, his voice holding a firmness and authority that Yuuri hadn’t heard from him before. He figured that Shion was capable of that sort of thing because he was an agent and had been a Deva before that but actually hearing it just didn’t seem to fit the person he knew was so kindhearted. And the expression he had wasn’t like anything he’d expected, the young man obviously ready for a fight, and there was a distinct lack of emotions coming from him, like he’d completely closed off everything Yuuri was used to feel that made up who Shion was.

Wataru, while obviously no less prepared for a struggle, wasn’t so closed off. There was anxiety, practically fear behind his even expression. He didn’t want to fight but accepted that he might have to. There was also a calmness that hadn’t been there the whole time Yuuri had known him and it centered around the man standing next to him.

That must be the one he had an affinity with, Yuichi Kazuki.

The stranger let out a bark of laughter. “Right, because there’s so much ‘authority’ to be had from any of you incompetent users. You’re barely capable enough with your cores to be called that.”

“Right, because that’s an original claim to make,” Wataru shot back. “Well, we’ve introduced ourselves. Your turn.”

Even as Wataru was finishing speaking, he pointed his hand toward the man and flicked his fingers back and the hood covering the stranger’s head flew back, the man stumbling back a step, the jacket pulling against his neck slightly from Wataru’s power, Yuuri was sure.

Yuuri looked at the man’s exposed face and was struck by the feeling that he really did recognize him. He couldn’t place him or even say what exactly it was he recognized about him, just that he’d seen him before. And there was plenty about his expression and features that Yuuri knew he wouldn’t have forgotten easily. When it came to such intensity and apathy, that was something that stuck with Yuuri normally but he just couldn’t place it. It was frustrating.

Who was he?

Disbelief jumped into Yuuri’s awareness and he realized that it was coming from both Wataru and Yuichi. Disbelief, shock, caution, and a hint of fear that came from a sort of certainty. It was a combination of emotions Yuuri couldn’t sort out right now but when he focused on the Deva and his affinity partner, he saw those emotions reflected.

They knew this guy so it was likely they had been who the stranger had recognized.

Shion looked over toward Wataru, obviously noticing exactly what Yuuri had, giving him a questioning look.

“We can’t let him leave, Shion,” Wataru declared.

“I had assumed so,” Shion replied but then Wataru gave him a pointed look.

“No, Shion. We _can’t_ let him leave.”

Shion let out a sigh as he gave a solemn nod, a stab of many emotions flowing through him before they were again shut down. “Understood. This would be much easier if Nezumi were here.”

“Yeah, well, he’s not so it’s on us. Yuichi, stay close to Yuuri. Shion and I will take care of this.”

“I’ll be where I’m needed,” Yuichi replied smoothly even as he stepped closer to Yuuri and Yurio, placing himself defensively between them and the Oni. When he was close, he spoke to them in a low tone, “He has a disposition known as a Shade. Don’t let him touch you, either of you. He affects cores.”

Did that mean Yurio was a user as well? He’d never said anything either way but it was something that came up every once in a while for all skaters, usually in interviews more focused on their family or life growing up.

“What, you think you can do any better than the last time I saw you?” the man asked with a smirk. “You never saw what I’m capable of.”

Wataru didn’t respond, holding his ready position and Shion took another step to the side away from the Deva, Yuuri certain he saw the air around the agent ripple like there was a concentration of heat surrounding him.

The man was the first to attack, reaching behind his back with his right hand and he’d pulled a gun, swinging it around toward them. However, Wataru was moving in the same instant, and he flung his hand upward and the gun flew out of the man’s hand before it got close to aiming toward them, clattering to the ground behind the man. It didn’t slow him down though as he just charged toward Wataru, making the Deva duck under a wide arcing punch toward his face, then he had to twist away as there was a follow-up kick.

Wataru spun around, reaching out with his hand and then flinging it across his midline as he turned to face back toward the Oni. It seemed like the man was as unsure about what Wataru had done as Yuuri was until he dropped down just before the gun flew past where his head had been, hitting the ground closer to where Shion still stood.

Shion took the few steps between himself and the gun, kneeling down for it as he kept his eyes trained on the Oni as he renewed his attack on Wataru, obviously trying to make the physical contact that was required for his disposition to work. Shion reached down and picked up the gun by the barrel and Yuuri barely caught the subtle motion of Shion’s finger reaching back to turn on the safety before he glanced over and then tossed the gun to Yuichi, who caught it easily and shifted it around to grip it correctly, ready to fire it.

Did this man, this Oni, really believe he had the advantage against two Devas and a U.E.A. agent?

Wataru was still successfully dodging every strike, only twice making brief contact with the man’s upper arm to redirect a swing that he couldn’t completely dodge because of how he was positioned. He hadn’t used his Esper abilities again but there wasn’t much around him that wasn’t secured down so it might have simply been a lack of options. Shion was keeping his distance, watching everything carefully, almost looking like he was waiting for something.

Just as Yuuri was really starting to wonder what he was missing about this fight, the man landed a solid hit on Wataru, kicking him squarely in the stomach and knocking him off his feet to the ground. And even though Wataru went with it well enough, rolling backwards so that he came up on his feet, the Oni had followed him immediately and had grabbed a hold of his throat before pushing his back to the ground as he loomed over him, Wataru letting out a yelp of pain as he clutched at his side. Surprisingly, it wasn’t Yuichi that moved – though he had lifted the gun to point right at the Oni, his finger deftly flicking off the safety – but Shion who sprinted over the short distance that had been made throughout the exchange. Both hands reached for the Oni, one grabbing him around the wrist of the hand grasping Wataru’s throat while the other pressed purposefully against his left temple. The Oni started to pull away, but then his body froze like it had been shocked and he fell to the side, limp though still conscious.

Shion followed him, moving so that he kneeled over him and both his hands clasped at the man’s head and a look of intense concentration took over his expression. The Oni started clawing at his hands and arms, gasping and screaming and Yuuri nearly collapsed from the overwhelming fear he felt from the man.

Wataru struggled to his feet, still clutching at his side and looking pained before he came up next to Shion and placed his hands over the agent’s before Shion pulled away the one holding the man’s left temple.

Despite the darkness of night, the streetlamps provided enough light that Yuuri could make out the ripple of power that surrounded Wataru’s right hand, the one over the Oni’s left temple, before the core power disappeared through the man’s skin and his struggling increased. At least it did for about ten seconds and then he gradually went limp, this time going unconscious and everything went eerily still.

Yuuri’s left arm throbbed.

Yuichi was the first to move, the hand holding the gun lowering to his side, turning the safety back on as he let out a short sigh of relief. Wataru and Shion followed soon after, both of them easing away from the Oni and sitting back with their own deep sighs. Then Wataru took in a shallow breath, wincing as he did so, his left hand curling back around his stomach and grasping at his side again. “Damnit, now I need a Regen. He actually did some damage with that hit. I didn’t think he’d actually get me. He was faster than I expected he’d be.”

“You shouldn’t have taken the fight to begin with. That’s what I’m here for,” Yuichi said, sounding frustrated.

“It’s not like he wouldn’t have tried to take the fight to me anyway if you had,” Wataru retorted distractedly as he was pulling his shirt free from his pants and lifting it up enough to expose his stomach. There was a patch of bruising just below his ribs that he prodded at a few times before dropping his shirt back down. “That really doesn’t feel any better the second time around. He must have put a lot of power into it. You alright, Shion?”

Shion was looking at the Oni, seemingly lost in thought and even hearing his name didn’t seem to snap him out of it.

“Alright, I guess I’ll circle back to you,” Wataru muttered before turning toward Yuuri and Yurio. “Not that I didn’t see everything but you two are okay, right?” he asked, only then switching over to English. They’d stuck to Japanese throughout the entire exchange and Yuuri felt bad knowing how frustrated Yurio had to be by that, by being excluded from knowing anything more than what Yuuri had told him because he didn’t speak the language. And considering they were in Russia, where he was the one who spoke the primary language, it had to be even more frustrating.

“We’re fine,” Yuuri replied. He didn’t know how much the Deva had overheard and he didn’t want to get into any serious discussion about what was going on with Yurio right there. “You guys interrupted before he did anything.”

“Yuichi, I’d like you to check Yuuri for a mark,” Shion suddenly commanded, standing up so quickly that he actually startled Wataru.

“Right,” Yuichi replied, turning toward Yuuri in a smooth motion and walking the short distance that had been left between them before reaching out with his free left hand and taking hold of Yuuri’s hand, grasping it tightly so he couldn’t pull away like he tried to do reflexively. But even then, he didn’t try hard to pull away because of there being a great amount of discomfort regardless of how he wasn’t usually one to be tactile with others; he just felt like the contact was more protective than anything and that helped him not be as opposed to it.

Right, Yuichi Kazuki was supposed to be a Paladin, one of the most protective dispositions in the world. They existed to protect others, to use their enhanced instincts and strength to keep others safe and Yuuri would pick up on that more than anything with his Empathy.

Yurio didn’t know that, though, and after a second where it seemed like he was needing to catch up with what was happening, it was like he suddenly rediscovered his violent tendencies and he reached out to shove at Yuichi, shouting in Russian as he did so, surprisingly putting enough strength into the action to make the Paladin stumble back a step, letting go of Yuuri’s hand in the process. It was impressive considering how much taller Yuichi was than the Russian teen, not to mention that Yuichi had to have strength many times greater than anything Yurio would be able to have.

“It’s alright, Yurio,” Yuuri soothed, holding his hands out and stepping so he was at least slightly positioned between the two. “He’s a Deva. He’s not trying to hurt me.”

“I don’t care. I want answers and they can give them before getting their own,” Yurio demanded and Yuuri couldn’t help but get a little flustered at not knowing how to handle this.

Yuichi spoke before he started floundering too badly. “I understand your frustration but we don’t have much time before he wakes up and we need to make sure we aren’t vulnerable before he’s conscious or he may find a way to use that against us. Yuuri, I need to check one more time for a mark on you. I thought I felt something and I need to be sure. I’m sorry but I need to make contact with your skin because I don’t know you very well.”

Yuuri nodded, ignoring Yurio fuming at his side – partially because he got the feeling Yuichi was going the route of avoidance and was just powering through and not giving Yurio a chance to make any more demands – as he held his hand out toward Yuichi, who immediately pressed his index and middle finger to the skin of his palm for a few seconds before pulling away and turning toward Shion.

“He’s marked. It’s different though, not like any Shade mark I’ve felt before. It’s like its only half there, not complete. There is a hint of it being a tracking mark but the difference in how it feels is throwing off my awareness of it.”

“Great, so we really will need a Regen,” Wataru complained. He was moving closer to the Oni as he reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a set of handcuffs, maneuvering the unconscious man around so he could secure his hands behind his back and then left him sprawled on his side. “Why couldn’t I just have asked Karan to come along? She’d probably get interested in figure skating the second she actually watched it. And she knows enough of what’s going on for us to not be worried about what other people are going to find out.”

“Karan?” Yuuri asked before he could catch himself.

Yuichi answered even as his attention remained mostly on Wataru. “His younger sister, a Regen whose spent years covering for him.”

Shion was suddenly approaching the two figure skaters, stepping past Yuichi until he stopped just a few paces away from them though his attention was completely on Yurio. “You know you’re a user, right?” he asked.

Yurio looked offended. “Of course I know! And because of the requirements for competitive skating, I’m fully registered. No, I haven’t trained with it at all because I don’t want to.”

“Wait, are you serious?” Wataru asked, sounding dumbfounded before he let out a sharp laugh. “That guy really did just hit all the ‘wrong place and time’ didn’t he.”

“What do you mean?” Yuuri asked, getting really tired of being confused.

“Plisetski is a Regen. It was in his file,” Shion replied and then looked sheepish. “I only read it once when we were first coming to Hasetsu and I’ll admit I didn’t pay much attention to him as he was simply a competitor and there were no flags to his interactions with you. I should have remembered sooner.”

“Are you seriously apologizing because your photographic memory doesn’t mean anything when you don’t pay attention?” Wataru said, sounding more upset as time went on, Yuuri wondering if pain was a factor as when Wataru moved to stand he gasped in more obvious pain than it had been before and Yuichi was already walking to his side, taking hold of his bicep to help support his weight. That one simple touch seemed to give some sort of relief and Yuuri wondered if it was to do with their affinity.

“How stupid are you? I just told you that I have no training with how to use the Regen core. I’d practically have to go through medical school and, since you idiots obviously haven’t noticed, that’s not what I’m doing for a career. I don’t need that sort of distraction.”

“Oh, I apologize for not explaining better. We don’t need you to know what to do. I have plenty of experience with the power of a Regen. I merely need you to access the power of your core. You don’t even need to direct it or build it up, simply access it to make it active. Can you do that?”

“Of course I can do that! It’s recommended to learn that much so nothing happens by accident while performing. Not learning that much isn’t considered professional.”

Yuuri decided to elaborate, “We can be disqualified if there’s a use of a core of certain dispositions during a performance. Regens are one of those dispositions because of how they can make their bodies recover faster from physical exhaustion. It’s on par with performance enhancing drugs.”

“Well, if you could get right on that accessing part, that’d be great,” Wataru snapped. “Yuichi wasn’t kidding when he said we’re on a time crunch. The mark he hit me with is actually one meant to be increasingly debilitating and the shifting Yuuri’s been doing with his left arm is becoming more noticeable. He’s in pain, too.”

Yuuri hadn’t expected anyone to notice and he felt the urge to turn his body so that his left arm was out of view of Wataru but figured that would only get his attention more. He just didn’t want any of these people to think that he was weak, that he needed them to be around to do anything. He’d thought he was doing well enough on his own when it came to his core. But then it had been one thing after another pointing out his failures in that regard and he just wanted it to be finished, wanted to stop worrying about being a user and go back to only worrying about being a competitive skater.

Yurio had gone quiet even as he kept glaring at Shion and after a few seconds, Shion closed his eyes for a few seconds before he waved Wataru over. Wataru moved stiffly to walk to the agent, his pain becoming more obvious now that he was moving even with Yuichi helping support him. When he got within arm’s reach, Shion placed his hand on Wataru’s and his skin shimmered with core power, which then flowed into Wataru. That continued for a good ten seconds, Wataru’s pinched expression easing throughout until Shion let go of him with a sigh. He opened his red eyes to give Wataru a questioning look.

“Yeah, I don’t feel it anymore. Yuichi’s the better one to ask though.”

Shion turned toward Yuichi. “Yes, he’s clear. Nice work.”

“Regen was one of the first dispositions I Mirrored. I’m pretty good with it.”

Shion had turned back toward Yuuri as Wataru and Yuichi headed back over to the Oni. He glanced over toward Yurio briefly and gave him a kind smile, “You don’t need to keep accessing your core. I have already Mirrored it.” Shion offered his hand out to Yuuri much like Yuichi had and Yuuri was reaching back with his right hand before Shion shook his head. “It would be easier if you gave me the left hand as that is closer to where the mark is. I don’t need to be touching the exact point but the closer I can make contact to it, the better.” Yuuri paused and then nodded before he extended his left hand toward Shion, pulling up the sleeve of his jacket and shirt as he did so.

Shion’s hand was already shimmering again with gathered core power and when his fingers wrapped around Yuuri’s wrist, the touch was so warm and comforting and not what Yuuri had expected. Yuuri had never been treated by a Regen before, never having been seriously injured that it was deemed a necessary option and the few times he’d been offered just for comfort’s sake, he’d turned it down and just let his body do the natural work for him. After all, Regens only accelerated the healing process, their limits lying in anything that the body couldn’t accomplish on its own. Yuuri had always figured why not just let his body take care of itself if it wasn’t a risk to do so. But the pain in his arm was already lessening, the tightness of his muscles relaxing at the relief he hadn’t felt in days. It was easing away at Shion’s warm touch and Yuuri was relieved.

When it had nearly completed dissipating about fifteen seconds later and Yuuri looked up toward Shion’s face, he was surprised at the expression on the man’s face. Shion seemed confused and shocked, his eyes directed toward Yuuri’s chest but it didn’t seem like he was actually looking at him, more like he was looking just past him. And standing as close as they were, Yuuri could actually see the same glimmer of power as he’d seen on Shion’s hands, an indication of the visually based disposition Shion possessed that he probably only saw because he was so close.

The look Shion was giving Yuuri was freaking him out, almost more than the sudden appearance of the Oni had. What was he looking at?

“Um, is there something wrong?” Yuuri had to ask eventually and Shion blinked a few times, his expression becoming more focused as he looked up toward Yuuri’s face.

“Me,” Shion muttered and Yuuri frowned in confusion.

“What?” he asked.

“I was wrong. About you.”

“How so?” Yuichi asked as he and Wataru watched from where they were standing guard over the Oni, the man still unmoving.

“His core is doing exactly what we make ours do, Wataru. I didn’t see it because it’s nestled in so close that I can’t distinguish it from any further than here.”

Wataru was silent for a few seconds before he stepped up behind Shion, reaching out to grab his shoulder and turn him to face him before demanding, “You’re saying you missed a third core?”

Shion let out a groan as he nodded. “In my defense, it was hidden within the discharge of the core centered in the left hemisphere of his brain very well. But I believe I understand his dispositions now, how they work.” Shion suddenly switched to Japanese, doing so an obvious way of making sure at least Yurio – who really needed to not be involved in this anymore – didn’t get more details of what was going on that they would have to explain or get him angry enough that he remembered to drill Yuuri about it. “We need to see to the Oni first, though. We can’t have him around and we can’t risk turning him over to the Devas or the U.E.A. with what he knows.”

Wataru looked thoughtful but Yuichi spoke up before too long had passed, continuing in Japanese. “None of us can take further action against him and be acting within our responsibilities. He’s subdued and sealed. You should call Nezumi: he has more connections when it comes to something like this than we do. Wataru already reported to the local Deva divisions that we were active in the area so he’ll just need to update them that the threat has been neutralized. You guys see to Katsuki and Plisetski and I’ll stay with the Oni. I’ll try to get more information from him but when we ran into him before, he operated independently, was merely hired and so he might not have much to tell.”

Shion was nodding agreement to Yuichi’s idea. Yuuri thought that was strange, considering that when they had first arrived, they had always claimed that Wataru was the one responsible here while Shion and Nezumi had only been there for the sake of support. Had things changed simply because this Oni had shown up?

Shion turned to face him and gave him a kind look, a small smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I know you are confused but you need to be patient. Wataru will see you to your hotel room and will give Plisetski all the details he’s allowed, though that admittedly won’t be much. Please wait until Yuichi and I have returned for your answers.”

Yuuri crossed his arms, allowing himself some relief at not feeling any stiffness or pain in his left arm as he did so. “I don’t have a choice in the matter, do I?”

Wataru answered with a simple, “Not really.”


	7. How

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri needs to come to terms with being the target of an Oni and why it happened...

Yuuri was pacing the length of his hotel room and it was only mostly the fault of his own anxiety getting to him. It had been a long time since he’d been this taken by anxiety when it wasn’t about a competition and he’d actually given up trying to calm himself down.

Though that decision was also partially because of the part of his current state not being his fault but the fault of the other two people in the room.

Wataru had remained calm and collected, talking with Yurio in a measured tone that was only partially because out of the three of them, he struggled with English the most. He had a good grasp of the language but Yurio obviously wasn’t accustomed to listening to the severity of his accent – speaking English most of his life and then five years living in Detroit meant Yuuri had lost most of his accent – and there had been a few times Yuuri had needed to step in and make sure the message was conveyed. But once Yurio was gone, returning to his own room and Yuuri promising that he was going to talk to Victor about what had happened when he got back to Japan, Wataru’s demeanor had dropped. His hands started shaking and he’d spent half an hour throwing pillows around the room with his Esper abilities. It was obvious with how hard they hit the floor, walls, and sometimes ceiling that he’d started doing this out of necessity of making sure he didn’t accidentally break something. That tension had started bleeding into Yuuri, meshing with his own anxiety too quickly for him to try and redirect, and he’d gotten jittery.

Then Shion had arrived at the hotel room and while he was maintaining his composure much better than Wataru, he was still roiling with emotions that just added to the blend racing through Yuuri and he hadn’t been able to remain seated any longer.

And even though Shion had obviously already talked with Nezumi, he’d taken in the state of the other two in the room and had called Nezumi back, talking with him in hushed tones and Yuuri could feel how that simple contact with the one he had an affinity with was helping to stabilize the agent.

Yuuri wished Wataru could do the same and call Yuichi but that obviously wouldn’t be an option as long as the Paladin was watching over the Oni.

But what about Yuuri?

The thought hit him so unexpectedly that he stopped in his pacing and his eyes were immediately drawn to where he’d tossed his phone onto his bed.

He didn’t have an affinity but he knew whose voice he wanted to hear right now.

He’d been planning on calling Victor anyway after the competition ended just to check in concerning Makkachin and he knew Victor would have been wanting to talk with him anyway. He wasn’t going to tell Victor about what happened with the Oni, not until he was in front of him, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t still glean some comfort from talking to him.

He missed Victor.

As he was reaching for his phone, he realized that this was the first time he and Victor hadn’t seen each other for a whole day since Victor had come to Hasetsu. They were constantly around each other. And even though there had been a few days here and there when they ended up doing their own thing for much of the day, they would still come together at some point. And now, to just not see Victor felt…wrong.

Had it really been not so long ago that Yuuri had only known Victor from a distance? How could so much change in so short a time?

What more would change now?

The phone was ringing and Yuuri tried to disregard his sudden increase in unease. Victor would pick up on it and know there was something wrong.

He had always been so good at knowing when something was off with Yuuri. As absentminded of a person as Victor could be, he’d always just known things about Yuuri he really shouldn’t. It was something that had always meant so much to Yuuri and he needed at least some of that now.

“Yuuri!” Victor’s voice called to him through the phone, excited and warm as he so often was with Yuuri. It would have been early morning in Hasetsu by now so he likely hadn’t even woken Victor up with the call.

“Hey Victor,” he said as he dropped down to sit on his bed, his limbs feeling heavy from the day, from the stress of competing with so much on the line for his career to the encounter with the Oni. “Sorry I didn’t call you earlier.” He’d been planning on it and had even read through the barrage of texts Victor had sent him and listened to the voicemail he’d left just after he’d finished his Free Skate. But then Yuuri had gotten caught up in everything and had been working out his thoughts to be able to talk to Victor when Yurio had tracked him down.

“That’s fine. We’ll go over everything when you get back to Hasetsu. Have you slept? It’s pretty late there.”

Yuuri was already feeling a little calmer. “No, I haven’t gone to sleep yet. I wanted to call you before I got too comfortable. My flight is later tomorrow so I don’t need to worry about waking up. How’s Makkachin? Is he alright?”

Victor laughed, the sound a little strained. “He’ll be fine. He was allowed to go home by the time I got here and he’s been sleeping on me all day long. Thank you for telling me to come back. He feels better with me here. I do too.”

Yuuri gave a soft smile. “It’s important,” he replied with, knowing that he’d always regret not being there when Vicchan passed away. And at Makkachin’s age, all the time he could get with Victor was important.

“That’s just one of the many things I love about you, Yuuri.”

Yuuri knew his cheeks were reddening because no matter how much he was around Victor, the man could still surprise him with those declarations. “What?” he asked, his voice thin as he tried to get past the embarrassment quickly.

“Just how you care. It’s something special. I wish I was there right now with you so I could hug you and hold you so you knew for sure just how much it means to me.”

Still flushed, Yuuri laughed quietly, “You’re doing a good enough job telling me now. But I wouldn’t mind if you were here now either. I…Well, I…um, I miss you. Having you around. It’s been a weird day.”

Was he really the same guy that had practically flirted with Victor on live television just the day before and was now struggling to admit that he missed him? It would be nice if he could just come out and say what he thought to Victor without his brain getting in the way when he was off the ice. He was getting better but the last few seconds were proof of how much further he had to go. He wanted to one day be out of this limbo they’d gotten into since the Cup of China with their relationship.

It probably wasn’t going to be today, though. And not because of the Oni or that they were in completely different countries from each other.

“I miss you, too, Yuuri. I can’t wait to see you when you get back `. We’ll take the next day off and do something for your birthday before getting back to work to prepare for the Finals.”

“That sounds good.”

Yuuri was about to continue when Wataru stepped into the corner of Yuuri’s vision and waved toward him slightly. Yuuri looked up at the Deva and Wataru signaled for him to finish up.

It hadn’t been long on the phone but Yuuri did, in fact, feel much calmer and ready to take in everything that Shion and Wataru had to say. Victor had helped him even if he wasn’t there.

“Well, I’m going to go ahead and get ready for bed. Being back in my room, the day is really catching up to me. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I’ll be at the airport to pick you up. I practically had to fight Minako to give up the task.”

Yuuri laughed as he could easily imagine Victor wasn’t exaggerating that, not with how intense his coach and friend were, especially when it came to Yuuri.

“I’ll be looking for you when I get there. Bye, Victor.”

“Bye, Yuuri.”

Yuuri hurried to hang up, afraid that he wouldn’t if he gave himself even a second of hesitation. He hadn’t wanted to stop talking with Victor and only did because of the conversation that had to happen right now. He just hoped that he could keep his composure and what he heard didn’t make him just want to call Victor right back up. Because if he did, he would have to explain what was going on without being in front of Victor and he really wanted to tell the Russian everything in person. He wanted to see Victor’s reaction and allow him to choose if he wanted to be close or far from Yuuri once he had all the details.

Yuuri looked between Wataru and Shion, the latter off the phone as well but he was holding it tightly in his hand as he breathed deeply. Wataru looked much more collected now, even as there was a thin layer of sweat on his brow to reveal just how much he’d worked himself.

And it wasn’t just a matter of the two merely looking calmer. They’d worked things out at least some so that Yuuri wasn’t picking up on anything so strongly that it interfered with his own emotions.

“Yuichi is on his way back. He handed the Oni over to someone who will make sure we’re all safe,” Wataru said.

“Is he going to be killed?” Yuuri couldn’t help but ask. How else would they ensure that the man wouldn’t reveal whatever secrets Wataru and Shion were worried he would tell?

“No. It would be murder if he was killed while his core is sealed and he’s restrained. He’ll complete a version of the rehabilitation program set up for treating Oni. It’s one designed to uphold the safety of the identities of Devas and their families by altering the Oni’s perception of what they’ve seen and heard. They eventually can’t keep what they actually witnessed and what’s been suggested straight.”

Yuuri frowned at that, feeling extremely uncomfortable at what was going to be done. “Is that legal?”

“It’s no different than what the brain does naturally through the course of someone’s life and it doesn’t harm them in any way. Besides, this guy is an Oni and he’s done plenty to earn the designation.” Wataru looked at Yuuri carefully for a few seconds before letting out a sigh. “Look, I’m not happy about it either. It feels like hanging out in a grey area more than I should be but the fact of the matter is that we wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t to make sure people stayed safe. And while it may just look like I’m protecting my own ass here, there’s more to it than that.”

Shion had turned his attention toward them finally, his expression thoughtful as he looked between the two. “Wataru, how did he know you?” Yuuri was surprised to hear the question. These two had seemed to be very familiar with each other so that Shion didn’t know something like how an Oni would know Wataru seemed out of place.

Wataru crossed his arms though it didn’t feel like it was a way of closing himself off. Instead, Yuuri wondered if he was making sure he removed the possibility of his hands being active, avoiding any accidents. “He’s the first Oni Yuichi and I came in contact with. He was hired by Hajime to confirm I had the core they were looking for. It was only after he’d marked me and then confronted us that we were actually attacked.”

“Then he’s not necessarily allied with Hajime?”

“No, he goes where there’s people willing to pay. He also gave the impression that he didn’t actually want to be involved further than that. Seemed like a self-preservation thing.”

“Um, who’s Hajime?” Yuuri asked before the two could go further in a direction he didn’t understand.

Shion answered, “An Oni. I was first made aware of him four years ago. It was only when he attacked Wataru about a year ago that I learned his identity though and I’ve been trying to find anything on him since. He’s been gathering Oni, uniting them under a common goal at a level we haven’t seen before. Furthermore, he is searching for rare and unique cores to have on his side as well. And if he can’t recruit them, he has them killed so they can’t oppose him.”

Wataru was sad now. “Except for lucky me. I have a disposition that he needs control of to really turn the tides against the Devas and U.E.A.”

“Your Esper core? I thought that it only didn’t work like normal and it is a rare core but that’s it.”

“No, not my Esper core. I became an Esper because of him attacking me for the core he wants. You know what the Ouroboros disposition is capable of, right?”

Yuuri’s jaw dropped. Everyone knew about Ouroboros, the only disposition that could transfer cores between people. But it was also one of the rarest dispositions around and no one actually knew people with that disposition. The level of protection they had even as they went around fulfilling entrusts – the process of someone requesting to have their core passed on to someone else legally – meant that their identities were so thoroughly secret that even their families had no contact with them.

Protection run by the Devas…

It was the only disposition with that level of protection automatically assigned because of how dangerous it was for there to be an Oni Ouroboros. Sure, other rare cores or situations where someone has been targeted by an Oni in the past may be offered the protection but for Ouroboros, it was a mandatory and permanent change to their life.

“My Ouroboros core was entrusted to me by my grandfather. And by that I mean he did it himself off the record so I didn’t have to give up my entire life if I decided to do things the hard way and try to hide it. Needless to say that’s what I did. But Hajime, he somehow found out about my grandfather’s core and that it had been passed to me. Or he suspected and used the Shade to confirm it.”

“The Oni knew you would recognize him so why did he risk coming forward again?” Shion asked.

“It didn’t look like he was expecting me. He was looking for Yuuri and we were just lucky enough to be around when he tracked him down.”

“Not necessarily,” Shion countered as his gaze dropped and Yuuri picked up unexpectedly some guilt.

“What? Which part?”

“You are likely correct that he wasn’t expecting us to be there and we were fortunate to have still been acting in a defensive position over Yuuri. But I believe it is likely our fault that he was even marked by the Shade.”

Yuuri felt as much of his own confusion as he picked up from Wataru.

Wataru was about to speak when a notification came from his phone and he rushed over to where he’d left it on the other bed in the room and looked at the screen. “Yuichi’s back,” he relayed before he went to the door and unlocked it, waited for a few seconds and then pulled it open just before Yuichi walked inside, Wataru securing the door behind him.

Wataru had barely turned back toward the room when Yuichi had closed the little distance between the two of them and had wrapped his arms tightly around Wataru’s shoulders, pulling him in close as he pressed an insistent kiss to his temple and then rested his head against black hair. Wataru took a few seconds to realize what was happening before his own arms circled Yuichi’s waist and held him in return.

It was a pure display of their care for each other and while Yuuri definitely felt like it wasn’t a moment that should have had witnesses, he also felt like seeing it allowed him to see more of Wataru than he could have ever told Yuuri. It showed that he loved deeply and was loved just as much.

“I don’t belong on the sidelines, Wataru, and you know it,” Yuichi said in a low voice that didn’t reveal nearly the level of emotion he felt. “I understand that protecting the noncombatants is important but you wouldn’t have been marked again if I had been in the fight where I belonged. I’m a Paladin after all.”

“His attention would have been anywhere I was, Yuichi. And it’s not like I was going in blind, not when we knew who he was.”

Yuichi was frustrated by Wataru’s response even as he let out a sigh and placed one more kiss to his affinity partner’s temple before pulling away though he remained close.

Wataru looked up to Yuichi, his black eyes seeming to be taking in what Yuichi wasn’t saying. He then reached for Yuichi’s hand and squeezed it comfortingly. “Don’t worry, I get it. I’m sorry.” He took in a deep breath then and turned his focus back toward Shion. “Now, Shion was just about to explain why he thinks it’s our fault that Yuuri was targeted by this guy in the first place.”

Shion flushed a little as he reached up and pulled at his hair, obviously a nervous habit. “That sounds much more accusatory than I meant it to be.” He took in a deep breath, obviously gathering his thoughts as he dropped his hand back to his side. “If it hadn’t been for the mark, I might never have figured it out, not only that Yuuri has three cores instead of the two we thought but also I may have not been able to determine his dispositions.”

“What are they?” Yuuri asked, his voice much steadier than he’d expected it to be. He was nervous to finally know for sure what he was capable of even as he was sort of excited for answers.

“The core centered in the left hemisphere of your brain, the one that registers in your eyes is a Reaper disposition. The core that is nestled in next to it, hiding in the discharge and uncentered is a Ghost.”

“A Ghost?” Yuuri asked thinly as Wataru said, “Are you serious?”

Shion remained focused on Yuuri, “You know the concept of astral projection, right?”

“Like your soul leaving your body?” Yuuri asked.

“Yes, though that is not exactly what happens with the Ghost disposition. When used, the core expels a burst of its stored power from the user in a concentrated gathering of core energy. It remains connected to the user through their core so they can witness everything the power does as being seen, heard, and felt. But they only become aware of what they witnessed by pulling the energy back to themselves before it runs out of strength and dissipates. If it is cancelled out before that, say through the use of a Dispel core as I have, they simply never receive the information. As for limitations, it comes more from duration rather than distance. And the user cannot be conscious while controlling their Ghost power; they immediately fall unconscious. However, there is quite a bit of variety in how different Ghost cores really work, like with Reaper cores, and the baseline for capabilities isn’t as organized as with most dispositions even without the Chimera factor.”

Wataru let out a groan as he raised his free hand to run through his hair, not letting go of Yuichi’s hand. “Great, we are actually dealing with a rare disposition. I was really hoping it wouldn’t be the case. Did the Oni know?”

“Most likely. He was following a mark he placed and he seems to have enough knowledge of cores to assume as much. What I wouldn’t assume is that he told anyone as it appears he was _only_ following the mark.”

Wataru shrugged. “So, how is what happened our fault? You still haven’t gotten that far.”

“Because of the combination of the Empathy and Reaper dispositions. Being a Reaper creates a connection between the user and others. It allows the user to perceive things about another based on a single aspect: their nearness to death. And as fantastical as the ability appears to most people, it is heavily rooted in our intense natural survival instinct.

“Then there is Empathy, another disposition which exists to make connections, though through shared experience of emotions. It is considered to provide the greatest level of understanding another person possible, even stronger than knowing their thoughts. Talented Empaths experience no confusion between their own emotions and what they intuit from others and many are able to help guide people through their emotions, to help them understand themselves.”

“So what does that have to do with us? It’s not like I was worried about running into the Shade after a year of nothing from him.”

“The other night when we spoke to Yuuri, you didn’t sleep well. You were anxious without Yuichi there and it is very possible that you had passing thoughts of an Oni you know was free that could attack you while you were exposed and without the one you have an affinity with.”

Wataru seemed to consider it before he shrugged again. “It’s possible.”

He was holding back, Yuuri could tell even without what he picked up with his Empathy.

“I bring it up because the previous night I hadn’t slept well because I couldn’t stop thinking about Hajime. I woke up afraid that he was in the room with me and Nezumi woke up activating a barrier in response to how convinced I was there was a threat. I didn’t think much of it but feeling how the mark on Yuuri was so…absent in his body, like it was only there as an afterthought indicated that it was likely he has a Ghost core. The Shade marked the expelled power of the Ghost core and it returned to him as it normally would but the mark still affected him.” Shion turned his attention back to Yuuri. “You recognized him because you had seen him before and your left arm has been bothering you since that night, hasn’t it?”

Yuuri’s mind was racing to process everything so he only offered an absent-minded nod in response.

“I have to say, it still doesn’t sound like it’s all matching up to his dispositions,” Yuichi said. “There’s still too many questions about how it all works. Regardless of individual ability, cores follow the rules of the dispositions."

“Ironic coming from someone with an affinity with a person whose core defies the norms of his disposition.”

Both Yuichi and Wataru gave Shion a surprised look and even Yuuri had learned enough about these people to know that would have been something more likely heard from Nezumi.

Shion flushed a little but continued undeterred. “Consider this: Hajime and the Shade represent significantly traumatic events in our lives. The Shade is the reason Hajime even knows with certainty of you being an Ouroboros and he arranged for me to be murdered simply because I had the ability to identify Oni on sight with my Clairvoyant core. I didn’t even know his identity and wouldn’t for years after. But he’s the only one involved in that attack that remains free just as the Shade was also free while the other Oni who attacked you were all detained. We can’t help but think about what circumstances we were introduced to each other under. Yuuri’s Empathy allowed him to connect with that, then his Reaper core allowed him to make the connection with the other side of that equation – the Oni – and his Ghost core allowed him to actually see them. And perhaps his ability creates a connection with us as well as the source and we were affected, very slightly but still affected.”

Yuuri felt like he was connecting with what Shion was saying, like he understood what he was talking about, like a part of him knew this already and it was making sure that the rest of him listened and became as knowledgeable.

He had to ask, “Have you ever heard of something like this happening before?”

Shion gave him a kind smile, one that seemed to be placating Yuuri without being condescending: Shion was strangely good at that considering the vast amount of information he seemed to know. “No. But there are so few requirements to people informing anyone of how their abilities work, especially Chimeras, that we are only recently becoming more aware of what influence cores have on each other. After all, it is Wataru’s Ouroboros core that made his Esper core work beyond the norm. And it is my combination of dispositions that allows me an ability not commonly found in a Wraith core.”

“What ability? The one that you used to help me and Wataru remove whatever the Oni had done to us?”

Shion was becoming sad now, an old hurt coming forward that Yuuri realized he’d felt from the agent before. “No, for that I merely used my Mirror core, a disposition that allows the user to copy the abilities of other dispositions. Because of the combination of my Dispel core – which can cancel out power from another’s core – and my Wraith core – which temporarily disrupts the connection between a core and its user – I have the ability to destroy cores.”

Yuuri frowned at that, considering what that meant and remembering what he’d learned long ago happened to someone whose core was destroyed. “Doesn’t the user die if their core is destroyed?”

“Yes. The damage caused by a destroyed core is extreme and the body goes into shock and gradually shuts down without it. We can live without cores until we have them, then they become integral to our survival.”

“Even entrusting the core, where the person experiences no damage to lose their core with how the Ouroboros does it, the person doesn’t last long after their core is passed on,” Wataru added.

Yuuri was still focused on Shion, though, really understanding what he’d felt from the young man. He knew about this ability he had because he’d killed someone and he still felt guilty about it. Yuuri had no doubt that with the sort of person Shion was and that he’d mentioned multiple times how he’d nearly been killed a few years back that it was probably an Oni that he’d killed, that it was in self-defense, but he still felt guilty.

“I’m lucky in that I am proficient enough with my abilities besides that one to not have to rely on it. Also, Nezumi is a powerful and talented Qilin and so he can perform effective semi-long-lasting seals so I have many alternatives to being the cause of someone’s death, but it is in my capability. In fact, the U.E.A. doesn’t even know I have the ability so if you could keep that to yourself, it would be appreciated.”

“Considering everything you’re keeping from them, that ability is small pickings,” Yuichi said with a raising of his eyebrow.

Yuuri felt like he could be excused for only now realizing what had been revealed to him without it being bluntly said: Shion had four dispositions, four cores. And even Yuuri knew that three was supposed to be the maximum on that. But he knew about Shion’s Clairvoyant core, he’d just mentioned having a Dispel and Wraith core, and he’d explained that what he’d done by having Yurio activate his Regen core was for the sake of his Mirror core and being able to copy abilities. “Wait, so you’re hiding from the most powerful organizations in the world related to cores that you have four cores?” Yuuri asked disbelievingly, then remembered that Shion wasn’t the only one keeping a big secret and turned to Wataru. “And you’re a Chimera and working for the Devas who don’t allow Chimeras?” He looked between the two, stunned. “Why do you think this is a good idea? Why would you do that, even risk being in a position where you could get found out and then you’d have to answer for lying? Just…why?”

Yuichi was the one who replied, his voice even and not conveying any indication that he disagreed with what the two were doing. “It beats the alternative of them being exposed as civilians. As far as the consequences if they’re found out…”

“A ‘how dare you, now into the protection program you go’,” Wataru said with a shrug.

“Endless requests for studies and evaluations to be made for core research,” Shion added. “After all, I’m not breaking any rules by having four cores; only contradicting an accepted norm.”

“And, honestly, the Devas would have methods that aren’t so easy to deceive if they were really serious about Chimeras not joining. I can’t be the only one.”

“Hold on!” Yuuri interrupted the two as they seemed to become less serious about the matter the longer they spoke. “You’re saying there’s nothing wrong with what you’re doing because you’re getting away with it?”

“Like he said, there’s nothing actually wrong with Shion withholding the information he is from anyone.” Wataru did pause then before adding, “Well, okay, yeah he is officially wrong for not disclosing all four dispositions to the U.E.A. when he joined but it’s not like it would have made them refuse his application. So, maybe ‘wrong’ but not ‘illegal’ and far from ‘malicious’. And, yes, I’m breaking the rules of the Devas by being a Chimera but is that really something that should matter to them enough that it keeps people from applying? Just look at Shion. He was a Deva, doing everything right, closing investigations for them, using his abilities to get Oni off the street and away from the people they were hurting. But just because he had a second and third core awaken, he’s no longer allowed to be a Deva? It’s bullshit.

“And me being a Deva? They offer the best training there is out there for any disposition. I have abilities that would have gotten someone hurt or even killed if I didn’t learn to control them. And, if I’m working for the Devas, I’m being constantly monitored, my health and condition tracked at all times that I’m on assignment. I can’t work alone during the minimum two years I’m required to stay with them and that means Oni have to keep their distance from me. And once I’m done with my two years, I’m out but I can take care of myself by then.”

Shion cut in, stepping between Yuuri and Wataru, who was getting more and more worked up. When he spoke, he did so in a pointedly calm voice that countered how enflamed the Deva had become. “Don’t misunderstand us: the decisions we made weren’t easy to come to. But our values still coincide with that of the organizations we work for. We merely see their faults and are working within them. And you have to understand that we have both been targeted by Oni because of what we are capable of, because of our dispositions. If that wasn’t the case, we would be looking at other options.”

“You mean that Hajime you keep mentioning?”

“An Oni we’ve had run-ins with. He’s uniting Oni, getting them to work together and organize themselves against us. Knowing he was out there and that he’d been willing to have me killed before I even knew his name was why I joined the U.E.A.”

Yuichi spoke, Yuuri catching the motion of him squeezing Wataru’s hand soothingly, “And he knows Wataru’s an Ouroboros. The ultimate disposition to have at an Oni’s disposal is an Ouroboros. The ability to pass cores along to people that are already allied with him is much easier than convincing new people to do things that would make them Oni.”

Wataru continued then. “We might get in more trouble than we’re assuming. I’ll admit I downplay the possibility so I don’t go insane worrying about it. But I’ve seen reports of the Devas allowing things because in the end it was necessary to protect people. The protective measures the Devas have on Ouroboros is ridiculous and old-fashioned. I shouldn’t have to give up my life because of my disposition when that’s not how it is for any other disposition. It’s different when it’s in response to a proven threat but it’s ultimately as wrong as the Devas not allowing Chimeras.”

“Not the time, babe,” Yuichi interrupted and Yuuri noticed that Wataru had been getting worked up again, though in a different way.

Now, Wataru glared up at his affinity partner, “Don’t call me that.”

“Got you to stop, didn’t it?” Yuichi replied with a slight smirk.

All three of these young men, all of them younger than Yuuri – even if it wasn’t by much for Shion – were making decisions that just didn’t seem right for them to be having to make. Even worse, they were making them alone because of the limitations of the organizations in place that existed to counter the Oni. And while they did work for those organizations, it apparently wasn’t enough for them.

Yuuri felt like there was something more he could do here besides accidentally calling an Oni to him, he just had no idea what it could possibly be. He wasn’t trained like these guys were. He’d spent a lot of years ignoring the existence of his core…well, cores since he had no idea when they all formed and awakened. His memory when it came to the dreams he had about others dying tended to fade quickly once he woke up. And now that he knew about the Ghost core, he could say that it was pretty much the same when he was astral projecting. How could that be of any help if he couldn’t remember what he saw? And it wasn’t like he actually knew the people he’d seen; it was because of Wataru and Shion that he’d found out about the Oni.

“Yuuri, I’m sorry I ended up putting you in danger,” Wataru suddenly said and Yuuri shook his head back to focus, confused at the Deva’s statement. “If I didn’t know the Shade, you wouldn’t have reached out to him and gotten yourself marked. But I guess we were able to figure out what’s going on with your cores because of it so I can finish up my assignment and we’ll be out of your hair with plenty of time to spare before your next competition. You shouldn’t have to have crap like this on your mind distracting you from what you really want to be doing.”

“Wait, does that mean you aren’t coming back to Hasetsu with me?” Yuuri asked, feeling nervous about Oni showing up again but there being no one around that could stand up to them when they did.

“I’ll be coming back to finish off my assignment, making sure you have enough tools to at least increase your control over your dispositions and whether or not I include what they are is still your call like I promised. Yuichi stays with me and Shion will likely head back to meet up with Nezumi, but he’s officially off the clock because Yuichi is back with me. He’s got some good techniques for control, though. Comes from having to learn how to control dozens of dispositions. You might want to take advantage of him being around before he leaves if he’s willing to help.”

Yuuri looked over toward Shion who gave him a slight shrug and smile. “He’s right. I’m no longer here in an official capacity and I need to speak with Nezumi to determine how long we will be remaining in Hasetsu. He wasn’t happy that I was involved in a fight with an Oni without him around and he may be too keen to leave once I’m back.”

“This sort of thing takes time to work through, especially when you aren’t really favorable of being a user to begin with. Believe me, I know. Take the time until your flight to just think things over but try and relax about it. If you have any more questions, just hold onto them until tomorrow. But any further decisions about how we’re moving forward will wait until we return to Hasetsu. It’ll be safer that way.”

Yuuri took a few seconds to consider that before he said, “Okay.”

Then as the three left him alone and Yuuri collapsed back onto the bed, his mind racing all over the place, he just couldn’t get past the thought that Wataru was trying to make sure he chose to stay out of it. He was encouraging Yuuri to not let this change his life, subtly but it was there. It was strange because Wataru wasn’t really the one for subtlety when it came to these four that had appeared in his life. He figured it was just that important to the young man, his value of freedom of choice strong and he definitely didn’t want Yuuri tied down to his dispositions.

Like Wataru was.

Yuuri could help them more, he just knew it.


	8. Touch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The return to Hasetsu...

Yuuri knew that being held by Victor again would be a relief, would make him feel better than he had in the past few days they were apart. But when Victor’s arms wrapped around him in the airport and pulled him in close, the amount of relief he actually felt was way more than he’d expected.

He was even able to forget for a moment that he had to talk to Victor about the Oni and about his dispositions. It was back to just being the two of them talking about their future with some measure of uncertainty about how long this thing between them would last. He managed to let it keep slipping his mind until they had made their way out toward the taxis and saw Wataru, Yuichi, and Shion waiting for them at the line of waiting vehicles.

Yuuri hadn’t seen them leave the plane so they must have gotten off before him – which wasn’t strange since he tended to get seats near the rear of the plane when he flew to not feel like he was so surrounded – and then waited for him, allowing him privacy with Victor.

They still had the train ride to Hasetsu left and Yuuri didn’t know if they were planning on keeping their distance or if he’d have an audience to telling Victor about what happened.

Victor still seemed tense that they were around.

Yuuri wondered if anything had happened between Victor and Nezumi while they were gone and then remembered that Nezumi was the most restrained and private of all their visitors. He probably stayed as far out of Victor’s way as possible.

“I’m happy to see Makkachin so active. He’ll be alright?” Shion asked even as the poodle perked up at hearing his name and then bounded over to greet Shion. It wasn’t as enthusiastic as he’d been with Yuuri but he was still friendly.

“Yes, he should be alright as long as he takes it easy for another day or so,” Victor replied kindly enough but Yuuri could pick up on the hint of tension that made it less than genuine even without his Empathy. He hardly ever really needed that with Victor these days anyway. And he’d been doing his best to ignore it before these guys showed up.

After getting his fill of attention from Shion and Wataru and giving Yuichi a cursory sniff, Makkachin returned to Victor’s side and sat down next to him, panting as his tail swished back and forth.

“You guys should be just fine in your own cab,” Wataru announced. “We’ll see you back at the onsen.”

“Are you heading straight back?” Yuuri asked.

“For the sake of Nezumi’s sanity, yes,” Shion answered with a smile. “Or perhaps the sanity of those around him is more accurate. I’m certain he’s been irate, to put it politely.”

“How did you know?” Victor said with the hint of a grin, actually appearing to be genuinely amused.

Shion lifted his travel bag onto his shoulder and moved to turn toward the nearest taxi. “It’s not a huge mystery. He doesn’t care enough to try and be pleasant to anyone besides my mother. And he’s never treated me the same as everyone else so that automatically excludes me from the generalization.”

Yuuri couldn’t help but smile at that, the inherent familiarity there was in the simple statement amusing in how blunt and honest it was.

“We’ll see you guys when you get back,” Wataru repeated and it was when his black eyes locked with Yuuri’s and gave him a meaningful look that Yuuri understood what he was really saying.

The three young men were heading straight back to the onsen but wanted Yuuri and Victor to take their time, to take some sort of detour.

Wataru knew that Yuuri had to talk with Victor and was giving him a chance to do so privately with no pressure from anyone else around.

This was confirmed when Yuichi held out his hand to Yuuri, glancing meaningfully down to his suitcase, and taking it with a slight nod when Yuuri handed it over. He then glanced down at the poodle and then over to Victor. “We can take him back as well if you’d like. That way you don’t have to worry about accommodating him,” Yuichi said to Victor. Victor seemed to hesitate before he nodded agreement and Shion called the dog over and Makkachin answered the call immediately, following Shion to the taxi and hopping into the backseat when Shion opened the door and waved him in like he’d seen Victor do. Shion climbed in after him as Wataru and Yuichi loaded their bags into the trunk and Wataru got into the backseat as well while Yuichi sat in the passenger seat up front, likely letting Makkachin be near the two people he already knew. The taxi pulled away from the curb after a short pause, leaving Yuuri and Victor alone.

“What was that about?” Victor asked after a few seconds. Yuuri was surprised he hadn’t asked sooner and figured it might have been him trusting Yuuri and following his lead. It probably also helped that he did tend not to feel as negatively toward Shion as Makkachin liked him the most out of the visitors.

“Um, well, they know that we need to, um, talk about something important. They’re giving us some privacy,” Yuuri said, his gaze dropping to the ground in front of him as he started pulling at the end of his jacket nervously.

Victor reached over and took his hand, squeezing it comfortingly before interlocking their fingers so their hands could hang between them. Yuuri realized how much he had missed that warmth.

“Wanna go find somewhere private enough?” he asked, sounding much more confident. “Maybe get something to eat?”

Victor was curious and a little suspicious but he hid it behind a smile and nodded before he surprised Yuuri by leaning over and placing a gentle kiss to Yuuri’s temple.

They still ended up loading into a taxi and taking it to a nearby restaurant they chose that wasn’t very busy, which was relatively easy to find, later in the evening as they were. They were able to get a table tucked away in a corner without anyone nearby as they ordered their dinner and Victor started talking excitedly about Yuuri’s Free Skate, giving him just as many critiques as he always did, outlining what their practice would look like for the next few days until they really focused in on the Finals. The familiarity allowed Yuuri to relax just that little bit more from the strain of what had happened and what he needed to talk to Victor about. And it seemed like Victor was aware of that, using the casual conversation to help pass the time until Yuuri was ready to talk about whatever it was. Yuuri appreciated that this time around, needed Victor to at least not press him to get started.

They were about halfway finished with dinner when he at last reached the point where he felt calm enough to broach the subject, Victor also slowing down a little and Yuuri picking up on a hint of not so much impatience but Victor reaching the end of being able to naturally keep the conversation going.

“So, Victor, I need to talk to you about something,” Yuuri began as his fingers twisted in his napkin anxiously. At least he didn’t feel like he was about to devolve into a panic attack.

“What is it?” Victor replied, managing to sound just as casual as he had been since they sat down even as there was a spike in anxiety over whatever it was that Yuuri had to say.

“Something happened in Russia, just after we finished up with the competition.” Yuuri wasn’t meaning to remain evasive, but it just ended up happening.

“You’re alright?” was Victor’s next question and it succeeded in distracting Yuuri in how he just hadn’t expected it.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Wataru, Yuichi, and Shion were there to help.”

Victor frowned, looking thoughtful for a moment before his expression sort of closed down. “Was it something they are specifically qualified to handle?”

Yuuri gave a slight smile at that. “More than you know.” Victor lifted a questioning eyebrow at him but this time waited for Yuuri to elaborate. “It was an Oni. Apparently I’ve been the user equivalent of astral projecting sometimes when I sleep and ended up getting an Oni’s attention one time I did it and he was trying to figure out who I was.”

Victor looked as intense as he did whenever he was watching Yuuri practice, when he was watching absolutely every little detail of what he was doing so he could fix it. “But when a Ghost is using their power, it doesn’t project a visible form. A Clairvoyant or Seer might see it but not really anyone else."

Yuuri frowned. “I didn’t know you knew that much about dispositions.”

Victor gave a shrug, obviously not planning on going into more detail on that. Oh well, everyone had their topic of interest that they just learned a lot about regardless of whether or not it applied to them. And there was plenty to find interesting about cores and dispositions.

“It was a passing interest when I was younger and the knowledge just doesn’t go away,” Victor gave for an explanation. And even as Yuuri got the feeling there was more to it than that, he didn’t believe he should actually doubt that. It wasn’t just because Victor had never given him a reason to doubt him and more that he believed he knew the Russian well enough to pick up on the nuances of identifying if he was being deceptive even without his Empathy. “I guess that explains why Nezumi was so irritated today. I mean, his temper is usually not much better than Yurio’s but it was certainly extreme since just after I talked to…” Victor trailed off and Yuuri knew he’d put together the timeline to realize Yuuri had already been attacked by the time they’d talked on the phone. “Why didn’t you tell me when we talked last night?”

“I didn’t want you to worry when there was nothing to worry about. Because I know that even if you had heard me tell you I’m alright, you would still worry, still be concerned that I wasn’t telling you something about what had happened. This was just the sort of thing that was better to wait to tell you in person so you could see for yourself that I’m fine.”

Victor looked like he was disappointed that the answer made sense, practically pouting in his familiar manner before he moved on. “I don’t like that it happened when I wasn’t there. Things like Oni attacks aren’t supposed to be something random like that. They are usually more deliberate in what they do against civilians, especially since you are someone recognizable to many people.”

Here goes nothing, Yuuri thought. “It wasn’t random. He was looking for me because of what was happening with my dispositions.”

“You know your dispositions now?”

“Yeah. Shion figured it all out once he knew what had been happening and apparently got close enough to me to see something he’d missed before. He’s really smart about this stuff.”

Victor let out a sigh and reached up to run his hand along the side of his head in a show of frustration. “I don’t know what I’m more impatient to hear about,” he admitted and Yuuri gave him a small smile before he extended his right hand across the table, his palm up in offering to Victor. The Russian looked at his hand and gave a soft smile before he reached out and took Yuuri’s hand in a solid hold, the contact a comfort to them both. Considering their separation after spending time constantly in each other’s company with an increasing amount of physical contact and general closeness, they weren’t nearly satiated by the relatively small amount of contact they’d had since Yuuri got off the plane. It was likely a bigger factor than Yuuri was giving it credit for in Victor’s reaction to the news of what he’d missed by leaving Russia besides Yuuri competing.

“Nothing to do but just tell you everything I know,” Yuuri declared, earning himself another smile from Victor. “The Oni was a Shade. Apparently, I’d astral projected to him and he just felt like someone was watching him and then marked that power, which then put something of a mark on me when the power was recalled when I woke up.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Victor said with a dismissive shrug.

“I’m glad you think so because I’m still trying to come to terms with it all. He tracked down the mark he put on me and confronted me. Wataru and Shion managed to win against him when it came down to a fight and I guess it was actually an Oni Wataru was familiar with, had run into before. But he was sealed and detained so nothing more to worry about from him.” Yuuri had to be careful about how much he revealed now, not wanting to betray Shion and Wataru’s confidence in him concerning their secrets.

“And what about other Oni? I’ve heard of the Ghost disposition being one they target for its usefulness in gathering information against the Devas and U.E.A. when in the hands of a skilled user. I remember hearing about it being used once to even identify the Deva Prominents at the time and the only reason none of them were killed was because they’re pretty much the most talented users in the world.”

Yuuri didn’t know any of that though he had been actively avoiding finding out if this was a disposition that would get him more Oni attention not connected to Wataru and Shion. He was afraid that this would be something he’d have to be worried about for the rest of his life. Because it wasn’t like sealing his cores made them go away, made him any less of a person of interest. He would have these cores inside him, have them be a part of him for the rest of his life.

In some way, he sort of understood better why the Devas had their programs for protective custody and the required protection measures for Ouroboros. A person could go crazy worrying about this all the time for the rest of their lives.

How did Wataru and Shion cope like they did? And not only with the truth of their dispositions but with the added stress of working for agencies they had to keep these huge secrets from. Did having an affinity partner make that much difference? Were they just that mentally strong? Did it have something to do with their specific dispositions? What was it that let them choose the path of most resistance and stay on it?

“Yuuri? What’s wrong?” Victor asked as he gave Yuuri’s hand a squeeze, his blue eyes shining with care and concern.

“Just thinking. I’m still sort of working through everything, getting it all figured out for what I’m going to do next about it.”

“That’s in question? I mean, wasn’t the whole point of Wataru being here about figuring out your dispositions to get them on record? With them identifying your cores and knowing for sure that one of them is rare and has been targeted by an Oni, don’t they have procedures they have to follow?”

“Wataru’s keeping his word. He’s decided that what happens now is still completely up to me. If I want to keep going on like I was before, he’ll accept that for his report and move on. He’s very adamant about not forcing me to do something I don’t want to do when it comes to how I proceed with my cores.”

Victor wasn’t happy with that, though that was only the most prominent emotion in the complex blend he was working through now. “That seems irresponsible of him. You were put in danger because of your cores and he’s just going to leave you to fend for yourself if you decide that’s what you’re going to do?”

“It wasn’t me that the Oni was after, not really. He was just tracking down what he’d marked. It wasn’t about me. And now that I know what it is, what’s happening, I can start doing something about it on my own. I didn’t really remember when it happened before but I might be able to now that I know what’s going on. I was talking with Shion about it and he said that what was likely happening that made me not remember what I saw was that it’s a conscious action to observe what was witnessed by the astral projection and because I wasn’t doing that, it would all just fade away once I woke up. You’ve been around when I’ve woken up from it happening: you’ve seen how quickly it passes.”

Now Victor was frustrated with Yuuri. “I remember you not going back to sleep for a long time and that you were much more uncomfortable about it than you tried to let on. It bothered you no matter how much you’re trying to play it off.”

Because of course Victor noticed. Had Yuuri expected anything else when Victor made such a habit of watching him as closely as he did all the time? He always figured Yuuri out so why should this be an exception?

“Ok but that still doesn’t change that I’ll know what’s happening now and could actually figure out how to change it from being something that bothers me. Shion and Wataru can even help teach me.”

Victor squeezed at his hand comfortingly. “I’ll help you,” he promised so easily. Yuuri thought he picked up a hint of displeasure when he’d mentioned Shion and Wataru helping him out more but he couldn’t be sure. He wasn’t really paying attention to what he was picking up that wasn’t his own emotions and those were becoming complicated enough with what could very easily become another commitment Victor Nikiforov was making to him, something else that could keep them together besides skating.

Yuuri wanted there to be so much more between them than skating. Because their careers were fleeting, had an expiration date that got closer with every year, month, week, day, and competition. And once that date passed, once the career was over, there had to be _something_ that kept them in each other’s life.

Because Yuuri wasn’t optimistic or confident enough to see what anyone else may see as valuable in him.

“Thank you. You always do,” Yuuri found himself saying before he realized he hadn’t revealed everything. “There’s something else.” Victor frowned, suspicious again. “The Ghost core isn’t what they saw that had them coming here. And they couldn’t figure it out because apparently there’s a measure of this core not working to the norm either. Then again, Shion has mentioned plenty of times that Chimeras often display unique abilities because of more than one core in the same body influencing each other. What they saw was the Reaper core.”

Victor hesitated briefly before asking, “A Reaper? Those can be…difficult to command.”

“That’s what Shion said. But he thinks that if I get a handle on the Empathy and Ghost core, the Reaper one will sort of fall in line. And unlike the Ghost core, I think I sort of knew the Reaper one was there as well. I try not to think about it but there are times when I just can’t shake being uneasy about some people or I’ll feel like I recognize something about someone I’ve never met before. When I mentioned that to Shion, he said it’s a possibility that it was the Reaper core taking influence from the Empathy core. Then he went on to reiterate how Reaper cores tend to not have much of a baseline anyway for how they work and that doesn’t help knowing what’s a Chimera thing and what is just how my core works.”

Victor squeezed at his hands again before he leaned across the table to press his other hand to Yuuri’s cheek to interrupt what had become rambling. At some point Yuuri had started getting anxious and it took a moment for him to realize that it was because despite how confident Shion had been in what he told him, there was still quite a bit of uncertainty involved with his cores and abilities. And here he was about to go into serious training for one of the biggest competitions of his entire career, likely his life, and he was going to start with this uncertainty and couldn’t let it become the reason he failed.

And the man who was sitting across from him, touching him like he mattered was going to be a huge part of why he’d get through this, Yuuri was certain. If it was just Yuuri on his own right now, he knew he’d be struggling more with this. He’d be feeling so much anxiety because of what was happening with him that it would have made it impossible to perform well enough at the Rostelecom Cup to make the Finals, no matter that he’d barely made it as it was.

But the more Victor looked at him like this and gave him the time of day without a second thought or regret, the more he felt like he was actually worth it, that he really _could_ do things that he set his mind to.

And he had set his mind to something in particular about this. Maybe if he asked, kept opening up to Victor as he’d realized long ago was a good thing, he could go through with it.

“There’s something I want to try once I get something of a handle on my abilities but I don’t want to bring it up to Wataru and Shion yet.”

“Why not?” At least Victor was mostly curious and not seeming like he’d shut him down based on that opening alone.

“I don’t think they’d go for it enough. It really is important to them that I’m not in any more danger because of what happened. They really do care about protecting civilians.”

There was a hint of disbelief in Victor but it passed quickly and Yuuri was getting all the more curious as to why Victor had such a negative outlook toward the Deva and agents. He just didn’t know how to ask.

“And I don’t even know if it’s something that’s going to go anywhere. I just…when it comes to it, can you help me figure it out?”

Victor’s hand pulled away from Yuuri’s cheek as he sat back a little with a sigh. “Experimenting with cores isn’t for people who aren’t using them in their life. Are you not even going to consider being sealed?”

Yuuri had. “It just doesn’t feel like the right thing to do. My cores are a part of me, no matter that I didn’t know much about them. I just don’t feel like cutting myself off from them is something I really want to do. And I double-checked: none of the dispositions are on the list for required cores to seal for me to compete.”

“No, they wouldn’t be. They don’t enhance the body in any way,” Victor said, sounding put-out.

Yuuri found himself smiling as he reached over with his free hand and placed it over their joined hands, squeezing Victor’s hand between both of his fondly. “I feel better knowing, Victor. I’m glad we were able to figure it out. Sure, I’ve avoided things to do with my cores up until now but I think it was because I didn’t understand what was going on. Now that I have some answers, I just feel like I want more and as long as I’m not on my own with it, I think I can stay confident enough to actually go through with getting that.”

Victor was watching him closely throughout him talking, listening carefully as he always did when Yuuri started revealing his thoughts. And when Yuuri finished and they just stared at each other for a few quiet seconds, Victor’s expression became warm and fond. Then, before Yuuri could really get ready for him to do so, Victor stood and leaned over across the table as he used his hold on Yuuri’s hand to pull him forward enough to press his lips to Yuuri’s in a firm but brief kiss. Then he pressed his other hand back to Yuuri’s cheek, adjusted their angle so his lips covered Yuuri’s more succinctly and then gave him another kiss, this one lasting reasonably longer even as Victor didn’t move to deepen it at all.

Yuuri couldn’t say if he wanted Victor to deepen it or not. He was still so new to this, still a little freaked out that it was _Victor_ kissing him, and he still struggled to know exactly what he wanted.

Not that they were exactly in the right setting for them to get too into anything. Sure, they had some privacy provided by their seats being somewhat tucked away in the restaurant as well as there not being many customers to begin with but they were still in a public place.

Thankfully, Victor soon sat back into his chair before Yuuri could get too caught up in remembering they were in public and not at the onsen or somewhere more private.

“I’m here for you, Yuuri,” Victor said before he lifted Yuuri’s hand to his lips and gave his fingers a kiss as well. “Just tell me what you need and I’ll be there. No matter what it is.”

And as much as Victor had called Yuuri asking him to remain his coach until he retired a proposal, Yuuri had the thought that Victor had just made his own proposal.


	9. Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Recovery and plans...

Yuuri had always found affinities fascinating. Ever since he first learned about them in school when he was around seven when kids got their first official class on the basics of cores and all that applied that could be understood by kids that age, he’d thought that out of all the things cores made people capable of, this connection that formed between them because of mutual love had to be the best part. Even when he became conscious that he was a user and could actually have affinities form himself, that hadn’t waned. He just had the misfortune of being in a family that didn’t have any other users and none of his close friends who he had deep love for were users either. It wasn’t until he went to train in Detroit and became close to Phichit that he finally had someone that he could form an affinity with.

It had taken a while to actually form, though he’d read enough to know that was common, that the first affinities tended to take the longest and usually required more time in each other’s company so that more discharge could interact and form the connection. And the fact that it was a platonic affinity, one that formed between close friends who felt absolute trust in each other, meant that it took even longer.

But it had taken hold and Yuuri had his first affinity.

Phichit was a Familiar, his core allowing him to communicate with animals, though he hadn’t done much to develop it. He’d told Yuuri once that he’d ended up gravitating towards hamsters when he was younger because they “didn’t talk much”. Then he’d just gotten too fond of them to not have at least three at a time.

Neither one of them had noticed anything that could have been the development of abilities created from the affinity. It wasn’t really surprising considering the dispositions they were working with were already on the passive side of things and usually any abilities were discovered by accident. But what they did notice was an awareness of each other that had allowed Yuuri the first experience of always being able to correctly identify when what he felt was his own emotions and what was his Empathy picking up on Phichit’s. He never had to guess and that had become a relief to him while surrounded by so many people between his classes and practice. It had just made affinities all the more appealing to Yuuri, to have proof that it was something that could benefit him. It didn’t mean he was going to randomly be more open with people he didn’t feel close to but he’d hoped for another connection to be made at some point.

But Phichit had remained the only person he had an affinity with and he didn’t see that changing anytime soon, especially since the only other person he could imagine feeling strongly enough about and spent enough time around would be Victor. But because Victor wasn’t a user, an affinity couldn’t form. Disappointing but there was nothing Yuuri could do about it so why focus on it?

Though the reason Yuuri was thinking about it now was because there were now multiple examples of affinity partners to observe and pick up on the strength of the emotions that led to the connection forming in the first place.

He’d gotten familiar with how Shion and Nezumi interacted over their time at the onsen but the separation likely coupled with a threat to Shion while he wasn’t there seemed to kick the connection into overdrive as Yuuri hadn’t seen the two apart at all throughout the day when there would usually be at least an hour or two where they would be doing their own thing. But Nezumi was a permanent fixture at Shion’s side, always in a position where he could see absolutely everything about their surroundings. When Yuuri had asked him about why he was sticking so close to Shion, Nezumi had grumbled something along the lines of “damn Qilin instincts” and had gone back to watching the small group of girls eating lunch at the next table like there was any indication they were a threat to Shion.

Though Yuuri thought he had seen at least one of the girls giving Nezumi a flirty look so that probably had more to do with the young man’s intensity at that moment.

Yuichi was much more subtle about his hovering – Wataru had called it that jokingly even as he’d made sure he left room next to him for Yuichi throughout the day – and just seemed generally more approachable. He also seemed better about accepting simply being near Wataru instead of constantly being in contact with him like Nezumi had been with Shion. Then again, he’d been with Wataru when there had been a threat toward him so that might be a factor.

Not that Yuuri felt even remotely comfortable asking Yuichi for clarification. Between not knowing Yuichi as long as the others, even if it was only by a matter of about a week, and the subject being something incredibly private, Yuuri would take details revealed if it came up naturally but wouldn’t ask.

Not that he even really would have had the chance to ask if it was something he could. He’d barely talked to them casually during breakfast, hadn’t seen them at all once he headed to Ice Castle, and though he and Victor had joined their table when they sat down for lunch, they hadn’t spoken. That was mostly because Yuuri wouldn’t interrupt what looked like a very serious discussion occurring in low tones between Wataru and Shion. Yuichi and Nezumi would say something intermittently but they were obviously letting their partners work through whatever they were talking about.

Yuuri had accepted that it was likely something that had absolutely nothing to do with him simply because these were people in official positions with enforcement organizations for users and therefore they handled all sorts of information and situations he had no business knowing. So he had just talked with Victor as he normally would during lunch while passively observing them, which was what had allowed him to take in all those details about them and let his mind wander over affinities like it had once Victor had gotten distracted by doting on Makkachin.

Yuuri hoped that the two would be wrapping things up soon because the lunch crowd was dissipating and the bustle of the dining area wouldn’t be covering their conversation very well anymore.

The only thing that was keeping him from getting extremely anxious about the subject revolving around him was that he was sure they wouldn’t have kept talking while he was right there. He wasn’t so good at ignoring a conversation that he would miss hearing his own name.

He was honestly about to accept that he wouldn’t be talking to them until later when Wataru suddenly stood up and walked away, Yuichi surprisingly staying behind, the Deva heading toward the hall where their rooms were, obviously upset but not to the point of anger.

Shion was tense as he watched the teen leave. Nezumi gave it a few seconds before he nudged his elbow into Shion’s back and said in a low voice Yuuri only heard because he was sitting closer to Nezumi than any of them, “Appreciate the concern but keep in mind we’ve got more experience than he does. You’re the one who taught him the first inkling of what he knows.”

Yuichi spoke up then. “It’s strange for Wataru to be the cautious one here. He’s the most reckless out of all of us.”

“His concerns are valid, regardless of our experience. And his reckless nature doesn’t mean he’s ignorant of risk; he’s acutely aware of the consequences if this goes wrong as he will likely have to be the one to clean up,” Shion said, his voice somber in a way Yuuri had never heard from him. Whatever they were talking about was bothering him as well, perhaps even more than it was Wataru.

What was going on?

Yuuri decided this was his opportunity to get into the conversation if they’d allow him. “Is Wataru alright?” he asked, letting his question be one they could choose how much detail they could answer with.

He felt Victor turn toward him as he spoke, likely him speaking up after quite some time being silent catching his attention.

Shion looked over to him, his red eyes observing him closely for a few seconds before he let out a sigh and replied, “We’re in a…disagreement.” It was evasive but Yuuri got the feeling it was more that Shion didn’t know what to say rather than he was withholding details or shutting Yuuri out.

“Is it to do with work?” Yuuri asked, hoping if he asked the right question, Shion would figure out what he needed.

“Not so much work specifically but more about where the line between what we do for work and what we do on our own needed to be.”

Yuuri wondered if Shion thought that was supposed to be clearer of an answer than it actually was.

“You’re Devas and U.E.A. agents. The line shouldn’t be something you choose,” Victor surprised Yuuri by saying. It was more surprising that, despite the confrontational nature of the statement, the Russian hadn’t actually said it like it was a challenge, rather it had almost been a question.

It was Yuichi who responded, “We’re more than the titles we work under. We have to be or we wouldn’t pass the psychological evaluations. We have to be able to see when what we need to do wouldn’t fit into the public’s preconceived notions of how the organizations should work.”

Nezumi took the lead once Yuichi finished speaking. “Wataru answers to the Deva Prominents, who answer unofficially to the public. Yuichi has the Committee that runs the Protection of the Paladins Organization whose priorities start and end with the lives, safety, and sanity of all Paladins and Valkyries first. Shion – and officially I since I’m still an agent despite only being one for Shion – ultimately answer to a book of policies and procedures put together and reviewed by a Board of Directors that are purposefully vague to make sure the agency’s ass is covered even as we get more freedom in figuring out how to handle Oni than Devas tend to get.”

“Okay?” Yuuri pressed, not sure why Nezumi had pointed all that out.

“They’re job is the big picture. Ours is the little ‘in your face and after your core’ picture. The better we can see when those pictures match up, the better we are at our jobs.”

Yuichi spoke again before Yuuri could. “We’re all younger than you by a few years. Wataru wouldn’t even be out of high school if he wasn’t a Deva. Do you really believe that the organizations we work for track absolutely everything we do while on assignment? We don’t have the manpower for that. So, with that in mind, do you think that the organizations would allow us to keep working for them freely like we are if they didn’t believe we could handle making adaptive decisions while on assignment without checking up the chain of command?”

When Victor remained silent, his expression thoughtful even as he surprisingly reached out and brushed his fingers against Yuuri’s arm like he suddenly needed the contact, Shion spoke. “We would never do anything that would make us qualify as Oni. But there is a grey area between what is sanctioned by the enforcement agencies and what makes someone an Oni. We are really good about operating in that area.”

“If it’s something you’re good at, why is the Deva upset?” Victor asked and now he sounded somewhat confrontational so Yuuri took his hand and held it, hoping to soothe Victor in some manner.

“Actually, the issue isn’t that what we’re doing would be considered wrong. It’s simply something we would have to keep from the organizations.” Then it likely had to do with either Shion’s Mirror core or Wataru’s Ouroboros core. “Wataru’s objection is based on how unlikely it is that I would come out of this unharmed.”

“He acts like he has more right to be opposed to that than me,” Nezumi grumbled absently, obviously not meaning it to be a contribution to the conversation. Shion reached back and rested his hand on Nezumi thigh close to the knee.

Yuuri frowned, now getting the suspicion that this did actually have something to do with him. He wasn’t sure why he got that idea but once it occurred to him, he couldn’t just dismiss the thought. It could be his Empathy picking up on particular emotions from everyone around him and then guiding him through what he was picking up – that had happened before once or twice – or it was just a natural conclusion to come to considering they were actually being evasive in what they were saying, Yuichi and Nezumi seemingly taking their cues from Shion. That was totally possible between who was present: Nezumi knew Shion probably as well as anyone could know him and Yuichi had turned out to be good about picking up body language and social cues, comfortable around people like Victor was even if he was more laid back and private than the Russian skater.

“What are you considering doing, Shion?” Yuuri asked, finally able to just bluntly ask.

“Oh, he just wants to see if he can replicate your ability even though he can’t Mirror more than one core at a time. And if that wasn’t enough, he hasn’t Mirrored a Ghost core before so he would have to learn how to do it. You see, uncentered cores don’t Mirror easily and the strain because of everything else he has going on in there means he can suffer literal brain damage that might or might not be reversible,” Nezumi replied, obviously at the end of his capability of remaining passive about it. He was angry and Yuuri was impressed that he hadn’t really picked up on it until now.

Nezumi really was good at hiding his emotions when he was focused on it. And Yuuri was convinced that it was because he and his Empathy being nearby had been at least part of the reason why Nezumi had worked so hard to keep it suppressed. He’d likely been trying to hold it in until he and Shion were in private.

Victor leaned forward, whispering to Yuuri, “Shion has the Mirror disposition?” Yuuri just gave a short nod in reply, not wanting to distract much from the tense people sitting in front of him and he was distracted by his own thoughts of what Nezumi had just revealed. “Hm, impressive.”

“Is brain damage a usual risk of him using his Mirror core? He seemed to handle when he used it to copy Yurio’s disposition fine.” Yuuri knew that some dispositions affected the user negatively but couldn’t remember any of the ones in particular or the effects.

“No, Shion’s lucky like that. If his brain wasn’t used to working overtime just to keep up with him he’d be worse off,” Nezumi elaborated while still giving the back of Shion’s head a glare. “That and our affinity helps protect him. Without that connection, the damage would be consistent.”

“It’s because my uncentered core is the Mirror disposition that there is this type of effect. But I’ve learned how to control many different dispositions. I just need to find the thought process and instinct that guides the Ghost disposition the best and I'll be able to find out if what I want to attempt is going to work or not."

“That’s not all you guys were talking about. You may as well tell him why you came to the decision to try this out,” Yuichi prompted.

Now, Shion actually seemed excited, his expression lighting up considerably, becoming much more familiar to Yuuri as it was the sort of expression the young man usually had.

Nezumi rolled his eyes at the shift.

“Wataru and I have memory of what I believe is what you witnessed when you connected to Hajime and the Shade. I think that because you didn’t know how to receive the memory, it used your connection to us to pass the experience to us before it dissipated. Or the connection was there all along and we experienced it along with you but weren’t restricted by hiw your core operates since we weren’t projecting.”

Victor’s hand squeezed Yuuri’s as he tensed in surprise, the emotion Yuuri picked up from him matching his own. “How do you know?” he asked haltingly.

Had he done that to other people? Made them see things he witnessed because he had this ability he hadn’t known about and so couldn’t control? What if other people had seen some truly horrific things because of him?

“I remember everything I heard Hajime say the one time I came in contact with him. Even without my photographic memory, the experience was one that left an impact on me. Last night I remembered him saying something that he didn’t say that day. I remembered it with a certainty that I had witnessed it being said. So, I wondered if I really did know and then it also occurred to me that with both me and Wataru having had a significant exchange with Hajime that we may have both been influencing your connection to him. Wataru’s memory isn’t as good as mine but he did recall enough that we believe we have a full idea of what you saw.”

“This is an Oni?” Victor asked and Yuuri recalled that he hadn’t actually mentioned Hajime at all. He figured it wasn’t something that mattered enough to tell Victor about, not when Hajime wasn’t the Oni that had attacked Yuuri or seemed to have any interest in the skater.

“Yes, one we’ve been trying to track for a while now. Yuuri’s abilities managed to connect to us and allow us to witness a conversation he had the day after we arrived.”

There was a brief silence before Nezumi pushed lightly at the back of Shion’s head and said, “Don’t stop there. Tell them the rest.”

Shion reached up and pulled off the beanie he usually wore for the sake of concealing his unique hair so he could scratch at his head briefly. He left the hat off as he let out a short sigh. “Just like the Shade, Hajime became aware that something was there. As far as I know, he doesn’t have a disposition that is strongly connected to perceiving core discharge but he still figured out something was there and took action to purge his surroundings through an ally he was speaking with.”

What was the use of something like this ability if he was always found out? Yuuri didn’t want to be so negative but he’d apparently used this ability twice since they had arrived and both times he hadn’t been able to use it unnoticed by the side of things that he actually needed to hide from.

“Is this Oni going to come after Yuuri like the Shade did?” Victor asked.

“No, there’s nothing for them to look for. It was bad luck that the Shade could mark him while projecting. Not all Shades have the ability and the skill to follow a partial mark like he did.”

Yuichi crossed his arms and frowned. “He was able to mark and track an inactive core in Wataru. There isn’t much difference with what he did with Yuuri.”

“It’s still impressive and we’re fortunate to have succeeded in placing him in custody,” Shion concluded though he sounded a bit dejected.

Yuuri found himself speaking before he could really understand why he was suddenly so curious. "Um, what did he say? What did you hear from Hajime because of what I saw?”

Shion looked over at Yuuri and just gave one of the faces he made when he was working something out, thinking things over before committing to whatever it was in question. Yuuri had gotten used to seeing it as Shion was an extremely cerebral person but being on the receiving end of that look was still quite disconcerting. He felt like Shion could figure out everything about him with that look. Knowing that Shion tended to struggle when it came to people didn’t help him not feel like that either.

After observing Yuuri, Shion did the same for Victor, which made a bit more sense considering he didn’t actually know everything about what they’d told Yuuri, like Wataru being a Chimera and just how much of a Chimera Shion was. Yuuri had kept their secrets and it was possible that something had to be revealed in Shion’s answer.

Eventually, Shion came to a decision and replied. “He said he has a Beholder that he is planning on holding for now because he needs an Ouroboros to entrust the core over because the Beholder is blind.”

Beholders were another very rare disposition. With a single core split between the two hemispheres of the brain, it allowed the user to actually see into the past and the future. But it was also one of the most dangerous dispositions to have because everyone with the disposition ended up going insane because of how the core worked. Yuuri didn’t know much else about it, mostly because he was actually pretty disturbed by it, afraid that he’d end up suffering something similar before he started to get the first inklings of a handle on his Empathy.

But a Beholder’s abilities were visually based. A blind Beholder meant they couldn’t use their abilities. That felt ironic considering how big of a deal it was for the person to even be a Beholder.

“That’s not what he said,” Yuichi declared. “You’re jumping to conclusions, Shion.”

“They said they ‘had a Beholder’. How is it reaching to think that means they are holding someone against their will? This is Hajime we’re talking about and the few interactions we’ve had with him have at least proven that he commits to his goals.

“We already know the damage an Ouroboros Oni can do. Imagine if they also had the power of a Beholder working with a man that has already shown to be effective on bringing Oni together to collaborate against us. We might never recover and the people who would truly pay the price would be the innocent people that we try to keep out of the fight they aren’t interested in.”

Nezumi let out a heavy sigh and looked toward Yuichi. “Why do you think I’m really ticked about all this? It’s because I know he’s right and that we do actually need to do something. And while I’m pretty sure it won’t work, we should try.”

Yuuri was already decided. After all, he’d already convinced himself of what all this meant: he could do more. “What do I need to do?” he asked. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Victor’s head drop as he clenched at Yuuri’s hand even tighter.

Shion gave him a sad smile, obviously not really liking that he’d had to ask. “We’ll let you know when we figure it out. Though I would like to work out some time for Wataru and I to work with you daily to help you improve your control and awareness of your cores. I don’t want to cut into your work in preparing for your next competition and an hour a few times a day will be enough.”

“We can work that out,” Yuuri agreed readily. That would probably be the easy part. After all, his training schedule was intense but it wasn’t like he could skate or dance all day and not be doing himself harm. He had to pay attention to his body’s limits for his own safety and that would work in his favor for this.

“Thank you, Yuuri,” Shion said before he frowned and looked down to the table, remorse filling him. “Just understand that you don’t have to agree to help. I don’t want you to feel obligated to doing something just because we asked. If at any point you feel like you don’t want to do this, just say so and I’ll forget all about it.” Nezumi scoffed out a laugh though he was genuinely amused. Shion nudged him with his elbow. “You know what I mean!” The distraction had helped him recover a bit from the dark emotions that had taken him. “You’re a civilian. You have no obligation to oppose an Oni. That’s our job and that’s what we chose to do. Just…don’t forget that.”

Yuuri nodded and gave a kind smile. “I won’t. But I want to help. I feel like I can.”

Shion gave a smile in return, his expressions mixed. “I hope you can. We have an opportunity to get on his trail like we haven’t had practically since I first became aware of his existence and I would like to gain some ground against him. It just can’t be at the trade of your safety.”

Yuichi let out a sigh and said in a low tone that was barely heard by any of them. “And therein is why Wataru is pissed: of course he doesn’t want Yuuri dragged into this like he was, but he doesn’t think your safety is expendable either.”

“It isn’t his choice,” Shion replied. It was said almost solemnly and Yuuri recognized the simultaneous appreciation for Wataru’s concern and a tired acceptance, likely for the situation that Shion was in that he even had to make a choice like that.

Yuuri had to fight down the thought that nobody should have to get used to making decisions like that. Because if these people weren’t there to make them, it would be up to someone else who may not be so ready to make the choice.

That was why not everyone could be Devas or agents. They made decisions that not even other law enforcement had to.

He couldn’t do that, he knew. Considering the trouble he had when it came to making decisions concerning his own career, something that objectively had no serious impact on anyone besides him and his competitors, he just couldn’t imagine being able to make a decision that may literally be life or death or have very serious consequences for anyone even slightly involved, including innocent civilians.

He couldn’t do what these guys did. He would try and help them but he knew if it came down to him facing another Oni like the Shade, he wouldn’t be of much use.

That was a humbling thought.

Shion’s attention suddenly turned to focus on Victor and his demeanor was closer to what it normally was as he spoke to the Russian. “Would you mind being close to Yuuri while we’re working with him?”

Victor was surprised by the request. “Don’t you think that would be distracting for him?”

Even as he’d asked something that could be seen as a setup for turning down the request, Yuuri picked up on the sensation that it would be the last thing Victor wanted to do.

“Not at all. Not only is he used to working and concentrating while you’re nearby but the relationship between you may make all the difference in him being able to control his cores, especially his Empathy.” Yuuri ducked his head and felt his face flush at Shion’s blunt mentioning of there being a relationship between him and Victor. Just because he knew full well that there was something between them didn’t mean someone else making a point of it wasn’t going to embarrass him.

“Of course I’ll be there for Yuuri.” Victor looked over toward Yuuri then and lifted his free hand to brush the back of his fingers against Yuuri’s cheek just below his glasses to get his attention. When Yuuri looked over to him, he just gave him an intense questioning look before asking, “You want me there, right?”

There was no hesitation in Yuuri’s response even as he was sure he was still blushing, “Yes, I’d like you to be with me.”

“Good,” Victor settled on saying as his eyes became warm with emotion before he turned his attention back toward Shion. “Twice a day for an hour?” he confirmed and Shion nodded.

“With a recommendation that he work on his own once more, ideally right before he goes to sleep where he focuses on trying to get used to identifying the Ghost core’s existence. Sometimes that’s all the difference that needs to be made for someone to get that first handle on controlling their core’s abilities.”

“You don’t know for sure?”

“Everyone is different and each disposition has its own quirks for controlling abilities. And all three of Yuuri’s dispositions don’t lend themselves well to being finely controlled. But if we can identify what they respond best to, we should at least be able to get Yuuri started and possibly find what I would need to control the abilities of a Ghost as well in order to Mirror him effectively.”

At least Yuuri thought all that made sense to hear. Actually putting it into practice may be a completely different matter. It wasn’t like he had all that much experience with controlling core power. That was sort of the problem he’d had for most of his life. But he was ready to at least try and change that. With everything he’d done over the past few months, all the work he’d put into improving himself, this just seemed like one more thing to work on and he felt ready.

He just hoped that would be enough for him to actually make the progress he wanted and needed to gain some comfort and stability with his cores like he’s started to find with his skating and maybe even be of some help to these people who had already done quite a bit to help him.

Either way, the subject was dropped for the moment, Nezumi and Shion remaining out in the dining area as they conversed quietly in Japanese, Yuuri guessed as a way to help Nezumi and their affinity stabilize out again by being around each other casually. Yuichi excused himself soon after they finished talking with Yuuri and headed back toward the rooms, likely to be with Wataru as well after he’d had some time to calm down.

Yuuri wanted to speak with Wataru, to let him know that he was fine with helping out, that he wanted to, but he didn’t think this was the right time. He figured he would get the chance soon but for now he would leave everyone to themselves.

Sometimes people just felt what they were going to feel about something, especially if there was an influence from their history involved, and nothing anyone did or said could change that. Yuuri thought that this might be one of those times for Wataru, he guessed based off what he’d picked up from the Deva while he’d left.

And as Yuuri settled into his own conversation with Victor about the next few days of his training, he had the thought that just maybe he had a better handle on this whole Empathy thing than he’d been giving himself credit for. Because that hadn’t been something he just realized now.

What if he wasn’t so far off from having a handle on the Reaper and Ghost cores as well?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy. I hope you all take care of yourselves and be considerate of others in these times that are a strain on many of us in one way or another. <3  
> Thank you for reading and see you next week ^_^


	10. Pulse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri tries to be a user on purpose...

Shion had told Yuuri the next morning that the first time they’d work with his cores would be that night. He’d said that he didn’t want to throw Yuuri off his routine too badly and the first time of concentrated work with cores tended to be more of a drain than any other time. And they could figure out how he would mostly be affected after that – if he’d feel more strain mentally or physically – so they could optimally work around his training obligations for his prep work for the Finals.

Yuuri could tell that Victor was somewhat impressed by how much consideration Shion was giving Yuuri’s commitments that had nothing to do with their job. He’d apparently been expecting some of that to be them making a show of working with Yuuri but it seemed that the Russian was coming to realize and accept that Shion and Wataru were both being serious about letting Yuuri choose the limits of their involvement and when they said they didn’t want to interfere with his life they meant it.

Yuuri really needed to figure out how to talk to Victor about this particular subject so he could ask him why he’d had such opposition and distrust of these people he’d never met before. In some way he was hoping that Victor would become more comfortable about them and that would help Yuuri feel more comfortable about asking.

Yuuri almost wished the competitive part of him would come out in this just a little so he wouldn’t be just working through the more hesitant aspects of himself. He’d have already asked if that was the case.

Nothing like there being something so obvious to point out to him that despite all the progress he’d made in growing more confident, he still had a long way to go.

He was distracted throughout training with Victor, though. He ended up taking a lot of stupid falls until Victor stepped in and made him switch up what he was working on, the two switching gears over to work out what he was going to have as an exhibition piece to take his mind off the rest of the day in a less stressful direction.

And when Yuuri had started getting down about having to do so, Victor had skated up to him and wrapped his arms around him in a tight embrace before saying, “An off day isn’t bad unless you get absolutely nothing done. You’re still working even if it isn’t on your programs.” He then pulled away enough to plant a loud, playful kiss to Yuuri’s cheek. “Even Yurio has his off days. You handle them a bit more tactfully than he does, though.”

Yuuri had to smile at that and the two went back to skating, Yuuri feeling a bit more relaxed and they even managed to decide on what exactly he would be preparing for his Exhibition program at the Finals.

They went out for an early dinner instead of returning to the onsen like they usually did, the two then taking a long walk along the beach, mostly in silence and enjoying each other’s company. At least until Makkachin decided he’d had enough of the leisurely pace and started jumping all over them to coerce them into playing.

Yuuri was always so endeared by how much love the dog obviously had for his owner and how even at his age, he still had plenty of times where he moved and acted like a puppy. He was content to watch Victor jogging around with his dog, both of them looking much younger than they were.

He only allowed a brief sadness to pass through him at remembering that this was only how things would be until he retired, as they’d decided when he’d gotten back from Russia. There was a time limit on them being together like this.

That just meant he had to make sure it mattered all the more while it lasted. Because Victor already had a home and a life and an extremely successful career that had no reason to slow down before he came to coach Yuuri. And Yuuri was too much of a trade down.

Once Makkachin was efficiently worn out, loping back over to where Yuuri had sat down and flopping down beside him, laying his head across his legs as Yuuri started scratching at the dog’s head. Victor followed, sitting on Yuuri’s other side just behind him. He sat close enough that he barely had to lean forward to wrap his arms around Yuuri’s waist and lean against his back with his head on Yuuri’s shoulder.

“Are you still nervous?” Victor suddenly asked.

Yuuri took a moment to think it over before answering. “Maybe a little but it’s not bothering me.”

“You’ll be fine. You’re good at taking instruction.” Yuuri gave a small smile at the compliment.

“You do realize that part of the reason I’m nervous is that everything Shion and Wataru have said indicates that my ability on taking instruction won’t be a leading factor here. It’ll be more of a trial and error of how to think.”

Victor squeezed at his waist. “I believe in you. You’ll figure out what you need and then we can get back to just worrying about the Finals instead of Oni.”

“I’m fine with that.” He really would be fine with getting his focus back along with the possibility of being a little better off for handling himself in the future.

They sat for a while longer before it got close enough to when Yuuri said he’d be working with Shion so they continued walking back to the onsen.

Yuuri checked in with his parents once they returned, going over his day briefly with them as he usually did. Once he was done there, he nodded to Victor and they headed for the room Wataru and Yuichi were staying in. Apparently Nezumi had a thing with people coming into the space he slept in so they’d decided to spare any discomfort wherever they could and just use the Deva’s room.

So, Yuuri knocked on the door and waited for it to be opened, Yuichi letting them in, then closing the door behind them and leaning against the wall beside the door.

It reminded Yuuri of how Nezumi had positioned himself at the door of the skating rink the day they’d first arrived.

Shion must have noticed his attention on Yuichi because he smiled and said in a low voice, “Between the Paladin and Qilin dispositions, one of them are always in a defensive position and since we aren’t sure what we’re going to accomplish today, Nezumi is going to remain close to me so our connection can be as active as possible. Our affinity has always been affected by proximity.”

“Oh, ok,” Yuuri replied, not really thinking of anything else to say.

Shion laughed. “You get used to it. It helps to know that they mean well and they aren’t there to trap you in but be something anyone who wants to come in has to go through.”

“They have to be in here?” Victor asked before Yuuri could respond.

“Well, they don’t ‘have’ to be in here. But just like you’re in here for Yuuri’s comfort, they are in here for mine and Wataru’s. As our affinity partners they are the most familiar with how our cores behave and they may notice something we miss simply because they are looking at different things than we are.”

“Paladins can sense danger directed at people and Qilins can stop backlash from any core, especially since Nezumi knows where everyone’s cores are centered,” Wataru spoke up for the first time from where he was seated on the floor next to the bed. He looked tense despite being positioned like he was meditating so Yuuri figured that he was still caught up in his emotions from the previous day about the whole thing.

“I thought you were supposed to be the one to help if something went wrong,” Victor said, Yuuri catching Nezumi rolling his eyes.

Wataru opened his eyes and gave Victor a flat look before closing them again. “I’m relegated to cutting Shion off. Nezumi can stabilize him and pick up that something is wrong but I’m better suited to a quick fix which is what he needs if his cores get really caught up in some sort of backlash.”

Yuuri hadn’t really thought about it the day before but now he recalled that both Ouroboros and Qilin were capable of sealing cores and that was likely what would protect Shion from the damage his cores could apparently do to him. So why was Wataru the one to need to help out?

His confusion must have shown because again Shion chimed in with an answer to the unasked question. “Nezumi can’t seal me because we have an affinity. People with affinities can’t seal each other because of the touch of their own power that is connecting them. After all, you can’t seal yourself.”

“My disposition would be the exception to that, though, because of the way I can seal that no other disposition can,” Wataru added, though it didn’t do much good for Yuuri as he wasn’t that familiar with what abilities besides transferring cores the Ouroboros had.

Nezumi unexpectedly chimed in then, his tone much more casual than his emotions or even body language revealed. “So, in conclusion, you’re here to work, Nikiforov is here to help you feel more comfortable, Shion is here to figure out what he needs to teach you and teach you, I’m here to try and keep things from going south and let Wataru know if I can’t do that, Wataru is here to keep it from going south, and Yuichi is here to be completely removed so he can keep an eye on the bigger picture."

Yuuri allowed the thought that considering the amount of happenstance that was involved with Shion and Nezumi even being here, it was amazing how they all had a natural role to play in what was going on now. And while Yuuri didn’t believe in fate or destiny, he had to admit that there was possibly a touch of them all ending up where they belonged right now.

He wondered if that feeling had anything to do with any of his cores. It was hard to say with how little he knew about his abilities.

“Go ahead and get comfortable and we’ll start,” Shion instructed as he waved his arm toward the bed. “Take a seat at the head of the bed with the wall behind you, find a position you won’t have to move much from, and I’ll sit across from you. It should help me be able to see your cores much easier if you have the wall right behind you, especially since it’s a solid color.”

“You’ll be using your Clairvoyance?” Yuuri asked as he stepped past Shion and then Wataru to take a seat on the bed, turning to face the foot and crossing his legs loosely in front of him.

“Yes, I have to in order to keep track of any response your cores have, especially since I won’t be having you try and activate any particular ability. We should only have minor shifts in core discharge occur and my Clairvoyance is the only one among us sensitive enough to see it. Besides, I have spent years training with my vision to notice everything I can see and interpret it successfully.”

“How long exactly have you been active with law enforcement?” Victor asked suddenly and Shion gave him a curious look before it became more confused.

He answered him haltingly, “My core awakened when I was ten and I became proficient with my abilities within the first four months. I became a Deva at thirteen, lost my eligibility to be a Deva because of becoming a Chimera at sixteen, joined the U.E.A. at seventeen and have been working with them since. My experience is more than sufficient to observe Yuuri’s training.”

Victor dropped down onto the bed beside Yuuri, Wataru sliding away as he turned around to face the bed. The Russian gave a surprised laugh and said, “That explains a lot. I never would have thought someone like you would be the youngest Deva in history. I had expected it to be someone with a much more…profound disposition.”

Shion gave him a slight smile at that even as Nezumi took a seat at the very end of the bed, leaning his back against the wall with his legs extended out along the mattress where Shion could sit right in front of them. It was Nezumi that replied, “Not a lot of civilians even know about a thirteen-year-old being let onto the Devas so consider yourself lucky you knew that much.”

“And you?” Victor asked, though he seemed to just be curious now.

Nezumi shrugged. “I just happened to meet him the day he got the job.”

There was a lot more to it than that, Yuuri knew from the bundle of emotions from both Shion and Nezumi but none of it was bad, just the two of them thinking about a shared experience that had obviously been important considering they were now partners with an affinity.

“Right, well, we should get started. How are you doing with your Empathy? Are you having less difficulty separating out what you are picking up from others and what is your own emotion?” Shion asked, his demeanor changing slightly as he became more focused.

“I think so. It can get pretty complicated when I’m really emotional or if I’m feeling something similar to what the people around me are feeling. Like after the Oni attacked, I was having a really hard time keeping what I felt from you guys separate from my own emotions.”

“Unfortunately, it is more common for Empaths to not really overcome that. Not that it’s impossible, just that there’s nothing about cores that bring about the emotions of others influencing you. You just happen to have the means to be more sensitive to it. Just keep working at being able to differentiate what is truly your emotions and what belongs to others. Increasing your proficiency at interpreting what you pick up will help that as well.”

“It’s really only when there’s a jumble of emotions that I start having trouble figuring out what it is. But I’ve been able to identify who I’m picking things up from instead of it coming in as one big mess.”

“Good, that’s important. Keep up the good work there. It will make a huge difference in your emotional stability and that will become a positive influence for everything else. So, I want you to just start with the basic breathing exercise we went over. It’s something familiar and your mind has already associated it with connecting to a core so it is where we need to start. Do your best to ignore everyone else in the room besides Victor or it may become too much of a distraction. They will be doing what they can to not have any emotional spikes as well.”

This was something familiar to Yuuri now, the meditative breathing that allowed him to at least somewhat focus his mind enough that he was sure he could feel the pulsing of power within his chest alongside his heart. As he’d made sure to practice this at least four times a day since Wataru and Shion had instructed him through it. He realized he’d been aware of it before, just hadn’t known what it was until it was pointed out to him. That was apparently common, especially for cardiac centered cores, the sensation of the core’s discharge easy to mistake for a heartbeat.

Or, according to Nezumi, indigestion and heartburn.

Either way, his regular practice even not having been doing it long meant that he was quickly able to feel the pulse of his Empathy core, continuing to breath in measured rhythm even after his awareness was piqued. Even Victor shifting beside him to lean back against the pillows and wall wasn’t enough to make him lose track of the core and he was happy for that show of progress. So, he continued the familiar exercise as he waited for Shion to give him further instructions.

He almost startled as he heard Wataru instead, the Deva speaking in a low tone, “You catch that?”

Shion hummed shortly in agreement and Yuuri wanted to ask what they meant but he didn’t want to lose his concentration. Shion then spoke, obviously in response to Wataru, “Even knowing he has an uncentered core, I couldn’t differentiate between it and the Empathy core until it moved.” There was a short pause and then Shion was speaking again. “Yuuri, I would like you to focus on one thought. Just repeat it in your mind over and over again. That’s all I want you thinking about. I want you to think that things are fine as they are and they don’t need to change.”

Shion really couldn’t have asked for Yuuri to think something more contrary to what he tended to believe strongly, especially over the past few months as he’d needed to seriously commit to changing up so much of his routine and how he’d been approaching his life and career. But he still had to try. Shion was only trying to help him, not make a statement on his personal choices and goals. This was _just_ about his cores.

He still didn’t think mentally repeating the thought over and over again made it any more convincing. He felt like he was already failing and it was only the first thing Shion had asked him to do. At least he hadn’t lost his awareness of his core, the sensation of the pulsing hovering in the corner of his mind.

Shion let out a sigh then instructed, “Let the thought go, Yuuri. It was nonresponsive. Return to your normal breathing.”

Yuuri wanted to open his eyes, to see if Shion looked disappointed since Yuuri wasn’t really picking up on much from his Empathy core, focused as he was on keeping track of the pulses of discharge coming from it. He didn’t though, settling on waiting for his next instruction even as he let the frustration he had with himself be soothed by the warmth of Victor beside him.

After all, Victor never thought he was a failure, never believed that Yuuri was wasting his time. And so if he was still here with him, there was at least one person who wouldn’t get frustrated with him doing things wrong.

He honestly hadn’t expected his thoughts to go that dark and negative that fast. Did Shion know that he would have that problem and that was why he asked Victor to join them?

“Pick your battles with your brain, Shion,” Wataru muttered and Yuuri was even more tempted to open his eyes and figure out what he was missing between these guys.

“Keep to your job, Wataru,” Nezumi shot back, sounding irritated.

“I am. Or did you not consider that keeping an eye on Yuuri and watching for instability on his end would be part of making sure Shion stayed alright?” There wasn’t a response but even Yuuri could tell there was a tenseness to the air between Nezumi and Wataru for a good ten seconds before Wataru spoke again. “Yuuri is different than us. He doesn’t have the drive to use his abilities to protect people against Oni like you and his hands aren’t tied with his choices and he just happens to care that what was Entrusted isn’t used to hurt people like me. He’s a civilian who didn’t want anything to do with his cores but got dragged into our fight anyway.”

Yuuri was really starting to not appreciate being talked about like he wasn’t in the room and he gave up on the pretenses of maintaining his breathing and focus on remaining aware of his core. He opened his eyes and looked between Wataru, Nezumi, and Shion. Nezumi looked as irritated as he’d sounded the last time he’d spoken, Shion looked like he was so deep in thought that he wasn’t even aware that his affinity partner and the Deva were at odds, and Wataru looked outright angry. It was definitely the first time Yuuri had seen any hint of their personalities clashing on this level.

“Wasn’t the point of this to troubleshoot and figure out what thought process my cores would respond to?” Yuuri asked, Wataru’s eyes snapping over to him in an obvious show of surprise. “Doesn’t that mean there would be wrong approaches?”

Wataru watched him for a few seconds before he let out a sigh and pinched at the bridge of his nose. “Yes, but there’s still a right way to do this. We can’t start too far outside your usual thinking or we run the risk of your cores shutting down defensively, especially since we’re working with completely passive dispositions. Shion is too used to working with cores that would strike out defensively and so he’s starting in the wrong place.”

“Wataru…” Shion started to say but was cut off by the Deva.

“Keep in mind that you’re only the first one who taught me how to connect with my cores’ power on purpose. I may not have worked with Reapers or Ghosts but I’ve had to teach plenty of users their first command over their cores by now.”

“Then why aren’t you doing it?” Victor asked, mostly curious.

Wataru scoffed at that. “Because this isn’t my little experiment. I’ll keep it from blowing up in your guys’ faces but I don’t agree with Shion’s motives for trying. Don’t agree with Yuuri going along with it either but it’s his choice.”

“Wataru,” Yuichi said in a low tone from his place next to the door. It was a strange blend of him being chastising and sadness.

It got through to Wataru though, the Deva letting out a deep sigh as he ran his hand through his hair. “Yeah, I got it. Not my call. Yuuri, switch tactics. You know and recognize the feel of your Empathy core. You know what the pulse of a core discharge feels like. Cardiac cores are easiest to feel out that way but brain centered and uncentered cores don’t actually feel any different when it comes to their resting discharge. Your Ghost core was hanging out near your Empathy core when we started. Your awareness turning toward that core caused it to move toward your Reaper core which is where it is now. So, feel around your head for that same pulsing sensation. It’ll probably be like a hot spot around your left temple.” He tapped at his left temple as if to reinforce where Yuuri should be paying attention to. “Don’t think anything. Just find that pulse.”

Yuuri looked over toward Shion, who was looking at Wataru though his expression was still flat, concealing his emotions. It was impossible to tell if he agreed with Wataru or not. When he noticed Yuuri’s gaze on him, he gave him a short nod of agreement though.

“Victor, go ahead and have your hand around his left temple, preferably in contact. Even if there isn’t the option of an affinity between you two, he's still comforted by you and the core will respond to that. It might change the discharge enough to be easier to pick up on.”

Yuuri looked over his shoulder to Victor, who gave a one-sided shrug and then he draped his arm across Yuuri’s shoulders before his long fingers settled on the skin of Yuuri’s cheek just below his glasses. Yuuri figured he was blushing at such a personal touch even if it was the idea of someone else in the room but he did his best to ignore it as he closed his eyes again with a short sigh.

He focused on settling back into his rhythm of breathing: four seconds to inhale, hold the breath for four seconds, four seconds to exhale, pause for four seconds before breathing in again, and then doing it all over again.

“Don’t worry about feeling for the core at your heart. Just focus at the temple. Victor’s touch is your anchor.”

Wataru’s voice had taken on a soft tone, becoming encouraging and somewhat soothing to hear. He’d also switched to Japanese and Yuuri wondered if that was just habit for the Deva. It was momentarily distracting with how different it was from the usually curt Deva but Yuuri was able to dismiss that as he worked hard to do as Wataru was saying to try and help him.

Yuuri allowed himself to take a few moments to just feel the warmth of Victor’s skin against his cheek. That was something that had gradually become more familiar to Yuuri as the two of them had gotten closer over the course of the few months the Russian skater had been coaching him. Familiar but still exhilarating to Yuuri. He was certain that would probably never fade, no matter how long they were close.

When he felt more comfort from the touch than awareness of the contact, he figured that was when he should actually try to accomplish what they were setting out to do here. Either a warmth around his temple or a pulsing like what he felt with his Empathy core. He could do that. After all, it wasn’t like this core had only just shown up. It had been a part of him for a while, apparently. He should be able to figure out this part of himself just as he was figuring out his emotions, mental fortitude, and how to really be a competitive skater who actually had a chance. All the work he’d put into the past few months to change was what would now be the reason he succeeded, he was certain.

He lost track of time, focused on his breathing as he was and with no interruptions from anyone else in the room with only slight shifts from Victor entering his awareness. It was almost like when he would get stressed out and spend hours going over the slightest detail of the most basic footwork for his skating to help relax. That, more than anything he thought, helped him to settle into the thought that this wasn’t anything too out there, that it was just another day of improving himself.

This wasn’t anything unique or dangerous. Just another day.

There was a sort of buzzing sensation beneath Victor’s touch, something barely there but now that Yuuri was aware of its presence, it was actually a little irritating. Mostly because he could tell that it was just a feeling and not something that was really there as something anyone else would be able to feel. Victor obviously couldn’t feel it because his touch remained constant and it was right beneath his fingertips.

“I think that’s it,” he whispered, like speaking up would make him lose it. “It’s not a pulse, though, more like a fly in my ear that just won’t go away. Like if that sound could be a feeling.”

Wataru replied, starting in Japanese but cutting himself off quickly and switching to English. “Don’t try to get closer to it or make it clearer. Just let it become something you can recognize. Victor, I want you to move your hand so you’re contact is with the back of his neck. Don’t break contact with Yuuri to get there though.”

Yuuri wondered what the point of that was as Victor followed Wataru’s instruction. As the touch of his fingers followed Yuuri’s cheek to his jawline and then down to his neck and around to his nape, Yuuri was surprised that the buzzing seemed to fade as well, the sensation he was picking up on becoming more like the pulsing he was familiar with feeling. Then he realized that the further Victor’s hand trailed away from his temple, the more obvious it became that he was actually feeling two pulses, not quite timed together but about half a beat off of each other. Was that why it had been like a buzz? Was it just how he’d perceived it when they were right next to each other?

“You’ve got it, Yuuri. Don’t let your focus turn too much toward it. Just know it’s there. Get familiar with the sound and feel of it, like how you know every beat of your favorite song or how you know the feel of the ice under you and how it feels to be perfectly balanced. It’s all the same.”

Wataru’s voice was calming, even, something he could keep at the edge of his awareness. It made it easy to listen to even if he’d been asking Yuuri for something more complicated. As it was, Yuuri could so easily let the pulsing at his temple and just below the touch of Victor’s fingers at the back of his neck become his entire focus. At some point as he settled into his familiar breathing pattern, he realized that he’d let himself become aware of the same pulsing in his chest, feeling all three cores within him at the same time, noticing how each rhythm was different and therefore identifiable even without two of them being stuck in a specific spot.

“Victor, I want you to move away from Yuuri now. Make it as gradual as you can manage. Remove your hand first and then move so you aren’t sitting right next to him. We’ll be able to see where the Ghost core settles without you drawing it around.”

“I wasn’t doing anything,” Victor replied in a low voice.

Wataru sounded a little amused when he replied. “You don’t have to when he loves you. Uncentered cores are always hyperresponsive to the ones the user would have an affinity with. Doesn’t matter if they’re also a user or not.”

With Yuuri only paying partial attention to what was being said, he hoped it was enough for him to remember to ask about that later. As it was, he was aware of Victor’s fingers moving away from his skin and then the arm resting along his shoulder pulled away from him as well and he was no longer as aware of Victor’s presence at his side. He knew the Russian hadn’t even moved far away but he suddenly felt a chill, like his body had lost some of its warmth simply by Victor not touching him anymore.

The pulse from the core at his neck stuttered and he nearly lost his awareness of it for the interruption.

Could cores panic because that’s what it reminded him of: his heart when he’d begin panicking.

But then he recovered his awareness of it, thankfully picking up on it as it was no longer in the same place. He barely managed to follow it as the core flowed through his body, down along his right shoulder and past his ribcage to settle close to his hip. He figured the only reason he hadn’t lost it was that it had kept the same pace of motion, travelling in a straight line and the pulsing remaining constant after that first little hiccup.

The bed shifted and Yuuri knew that Victor had really moved away now.

If he hadn’t felt the movement, he would have noticed as his core gave another stuttered pulse before it slowly moved again, crossing up toward his chest and coming to a stop close to the pulsing of his Empathy core, the timing of the pulsing matching up so closely that it was no wonder he hadn’t realized it had been there before when he didn’t know what to look for.

“Interesting. That is really where it prefers to be,” Shion muttered.

Wataru let out a scoff before saying, “All the training we put into keeping ours there and his just happens to hang out in his other core’s discharge. And it automatically goes for the one with more prominent discharge. That doesn’t feel fair on some level. Did you get it either way? Him connecting to it like that is enough, right?”

“Yes, I’ll get right to work figuring out controlling it.”

“Then that’s you’re part for the day, Yuuri. You can stop.”

Yuuri almost didn’t listen, somewhat captivated by the feel of these cores of concentrated power inside of him before he reminded himself that he could literally do this whenever he wanted because they were actually a part of him. So, he took a few more deep breaths and let his eyes open again, looking at everyone gathered briefly, like he had to check in that they were all still there. He’d gotten so focused on the feel of his cores and they were still obviously working to suppress the emotions he could pick up on that everything seemed…muted.

“What exactly are you trying to figure out controlling?” Victor asked as he sat back down next to Yuuri, reaching out and taking his hand and holding it loosely like he just couldn’t help but be in contact with him. Yuuri didn’t mind: it helped ground him back to the room. “What is there to control about the Ghost disposition?”

“Astral projecting isn’t supposed to be unintentional. Ideally, we would like it to only happen when Yuuri would like. And if it does happen without his control, like if it is activating in response to his Reaper abilities, it is safer for him to be able to accept the discharge back into himself so he remembers what he sees.”

Wataru stood then with a scoff. “Reaper cores are among the least capable of being controlled. If his Ghost core mostly works in response to that, we probably won’t get very far along those lines. Might as well know what you’re getting into. You did good, Yuuri. We should be out of your hair in no time so you can get back to really focusing on what you want instead of thinking you owe us something.”

Yuuri wanted to reply but Wataru was gone before he had a chance. Surprisingly, Yuichi stayed behind like he had the previous day. But this time, he looked like it was harder to do so.

Soon enough, Yuichi broke the silence. “I’m surprised you let him do that, Shion. You definitely didn’t deserve it.”

Shion let out a sigh as he reached up and tugged at the hair behind his ear nervously. “No, Wataru was right. I got caught up in the wrong part of what I set out to do today. And he does have more experience working with others. I may know a lot about cores and I do have experience confronting Oni. But he is still the only user I have actually worked to instruct in anything. If he was truly out of line, Nezumi would have protested.”

Everyone glanced over to Nezumi, who shrugged but then added, “It’d be really hypocritical of me to get on his case for being an asshole about it.”

“I’ve Mirrored the Ghost core and have about two hours to work with it. That should be enough for me to work plenty out. Yuuri, you should get some rest, preferably close to Victor since your cores are currently tuned into his presence. Your body and mind will settle down faster if they aren’t trying to find him.”

“In case you missed it, that’s us bidding you all a goodbye. He’s on a timer now and having others around will just slow him down since he actually has to focus to keep his Mirror core from just copying whatever is closest to him. We should have made me suck it up and done this in our room.” Nezumi urged Shion to stand, keeping a hand on the nape of his neck as Shion closed his eyes, obviously letting Nezumi guide him and possibly making sure he didn’t become more aware of any cores he didn’t want Mirrored. Yuichi opened the door for them and stood to the side while they passed, Victor standing up with Yuuri and following behind.

Yuuri paused just outside the door and hesitated briefly before he asked, “Something is going on with Wataru, right? And it’s not just that he disagrees with you. Or us, I guess.”

Shion opened his eyes and looked over to him, his expression thoughtful as Yuichi paused in closing the door. “He’s very different from me. His instincts are better, both with people and with cores. I’m not sure if it’s because he has an Entrusted core or if it’s because of his dispositions. He believes we’re going to be the reason you get hurt and so I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do about his frustration. But he also very strongly believes in respecting the choices of others so as long as you remain resolute in wanting to help, he won’t oppose you. He’s…More than anything, Wataru is a good person.”

“Yeah, I know.” Yuuri replied in a whisper, knowing that without a doubt. “You guys will be okay, right? This isn’t going to mess up your friendship, is it?”

Nezumi smirked at that while Shion shook his head with a soft smile. “We’ll be fine. None of us would let a difference of approach like this be the reason we stop getting along.”

“That’s good. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Yuuri finished with a quick bow before turning toward his room as Yuichi closed the door with Victor following behind. They stepped inside Yuuri’s room and then stood for a few silent moments. Then Yuuri looked up at Victor, feeling suddenly extremely accomplished. “I did it.”

Victor immediately smiled at him, one of his more serious smiles, before he stepped in close and wrapped his arms around Yuuri’s neck before leaning down to press his lips against Yuuri’s in a long kiss.

He pulled away enough to mutter, “Yes you did and I’m so proud of you, Yuuri.” He then pressed forward again and Yuuri lost track of how long their lips remained together, especially once Victor started flicking his tongue against Yuuri’s lips. And then Yuuri opened his mouth to Victor and he really started to get an understanding of why people lost themselves in something as simple as kissing.


	11. Close

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next step...

Yuuri’s head hurt the next morning when he woke up. And when he told Victor about it, the Russian just nodded like it had been exactly what he was expecting and wrapped Yuuri in a hug before going to get him some water, declaring that water and breakfast would help. Yuuri’s head wasn’t hurting enough that he missed out on the chance to joke that Victor thought food fixed everything.

But then when he’d told Shion and Wataru the same when they asked, they actually said exactly the same thing.

“You wouldn’t expect just making contact with your cores would be much of a strain but it ends up burning calories like you wouldn’t believe,” Wataru had elaborated, at least seeming to be in a better mood even as Yuuri could sense some underlying discontent. “Good news is that now that those first purposeful connections are made, there’s now something between you and all three of your cores that wasn’t there before so it shouldn’t affect you the same next time.”

“Then why didn’t you just tell me that last night?” Yuuri asked.

“Because sometimes it isn’t that simple and we needed to make sure that was all you suffered. It probably helps that all three of your cores have activated on multiple occasions. If it was the first thing you ever did with them, it would likely be a different story.”

“Is that how it was with you?” Yuuri mostly asked Wataru but he’d also glanced over to Shion, hoping he answered as well.

“Not really but my core awakened in the middle of an attack so I was just drained. Things can’t really go wrong when there’s no power there.”

Shion flushed slightly. “It’s difficult to say with mine. I was suffering the effects of a Plague attacking me so there wasn’t a chance to discern what was the Plague and what was the awakening of cores. Though when my Mirror core formed, it attempted to force out my centered cores and some of the control I’d gained was lost for a while.”

Shion mentioning his Mirror core brought them around to the big question faster than Yuuri had expected. He still wasn’t sure if he wanted to know whether Shion had figured it out or if he needed more time. “Did you figure out the Ghost core?” he asked just as Victor sat down behind him, crowding in close even as he set the plate with Yuuri’s breakfast on the table in front of him, likely having retrieved it so one of Yuuri’s parents or Mari didn’t interrupt. They had mostly kept their distance from the Devas and U.E.A. agents and had respected that Yuuri didn’t really want to discuss with them what was going on about him being a user but he could tell it was starting to bother them.

Shion looked and felt excited so Yuuri figured he already knew what the answer would be. But with how they had always let him do his own thing and support him without question, he wondered if he was actually taking advantage of that now.

He knew that Minako wouldn’t have kept her distance but Shion and Wataru kept their distance from him whenever she was around, like they knew that.

“Yes, I managed to find what the core best responds to. It was surprisingly easier than I expected.”

“Which obviously has nothing to do with how he’s figured out how to control upwards of fifty different dispositions by now,” Wataru muttered.

Shion flushed as he mumbled, “Only thirty-nine.”

“Oh, right, my mistake. That’s somehow less impressive when people are lucky to get a handle on two.”

When Nezumi smirked, Shion apparently decided to let the teasing slide and turned his focus back to Yuuri. “I focused on what I’ve experienced has a high success rate with the more passive dispositions. When that wasn’t gaining me much success, I shifted to ones that have a nature of quick bursts of power when used, such as my own Wraith core. It got me closer to what I was looking for but not actual activation of the core which would give me access to its abilities. Then I altered my approach slightly to extend the focus beyond that initial burst, like how a Warp utilizes their abilities, and that appears to be the closest I could find to consistently accessing the core.”

Now Nezumi laughed as Wataru, Yuichi, Yuuri, and Victor just gave Shion a vacant stare. Yuuri thought he understood what Shion was going for but he’d been talking so fast and honestly vaguely that Yuuri was certain he’d missed something vital.

“You lost them, honey,” Nezumi chided and Shion flushed again.

“Nezumi, you know I don’t like when you call me that.”

“Fully aware. That’s why I save it for special occasions. Now, try again with less how your brain works and more for someone who hasn’t done this before.”

“Yeah, even I’m gonna need you rephrasing that if I want to turn it into useful coaching for him. And besides, helping someone actually learn to use their abilities instead of just connecting to their core is officially beyond my norm. Might be able to translate what Shion says into normal person phrasing but can’t really help beyond that from experience.”

“It may take a few tries for me to help you through the process since I’m not really used to teaching others how to control a disposition but I am confident I can still help you get started learning how to control your abilities.”

“Good. I look forward to getting it figured out,” Yuuri replied. “Did you want to work on it this morning?”

“No, we were going to wait until tonight. After all, we need to make sure you are comfortable and in a safe environment to do this considering the nature of the Ghost abilities is connected to sleep.”

“Oh, right. That makes sense.” That detail had managed to slip to the wayside in light of the possibility of learning how to control his cores but Yuuri wasn’t going to admit that much.

That did mean that Yuuri was left to go about his day as normal. Surprisingly, none of his visitors went with him to Ice Castle that day. It was just him and Victor working for the morning and most of the afternoon. And with the knowledge that Shion had gotten some answers with what they’d done the previous night, Yuuri was able to actually focus on his skating to get some serious work in on his programs, figuring out what he needed to change to go into the Finals and have a fighting chance. He and Victor succeeded in figuring out the jump composition for his Short Program and then worked a lot on his quad flip.

He was going to have plenty of bruises tomorrow with all the falls he’d taken throughout the day. And he couldn’t even say for sure if he felt like it had been worth it by gaining some measurable improvement with landing the jump.

Shion and Victor finished dinner and had spent some time in the hot springs before they saw either of the affinity pairs. Wataru walked into the changing room and headed straight to Victor and Yuuri when he saw them.

“We’re ready whenever you are. If you don’t mind, we’ll do this in your room so you can get comfortable,” Wataru said in a low voice since there were a few other customers across the room.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Yuuri replied. He hesitated, not really wanting to bring up something uncomfortable with Wataru but he could feel the tension coming from the Deva. “Um, Wataru? Do you mind if I ask you something?”

Wataru looked at him carefully, feeling curious. “Yeah, sure. What is it?”

“Why are you so opposed to me learning how to use my cores?”

Wataru let out a sigh as he glanced over to the customers across the room, likely checking to make sure they were being ignored still. “I don’t mind you learning to use your abilities.” He paused long enough that Yuuri thought he wasn’t going to say anything else before he added, “…Once we’re gone.”

“Excuse me?” Yuuri asked for clarification.

“You literally got a target painted on you because of me, because you connected with me. And that Oni is among the less dangerous options you could have come in contact with. As long as we’re here for you to connect with again, anything that happened to you would be our fault. I’m not going to be the reason someone else gets hurt. So, no, I don’t mind you learning all you want about your abilities. I would just prefer it all happened when Shion and I weren’t around. But Shion’s got his mind set and apparently so do you so I’m just along for the ride now.”

“Isn’t your job done?” Victor asked then. “You know what Yuuri’s dispositions are and he’s told you that he wants it to stay off the record. Can’t you just leave and let Shion have his experiment?”

Wataru grimaced and reached up to scratch at the back of his head briefly. “Yeah, I could but I don’t like the feeling doing that gives me. It might just be me not liking to give up or feel like I lost but I like to think I’ve got a little more going for me than stubbornness.”

“Why not? It’s works for Yuuri,” Victor said as he stepped past Yuuri, ruffling his hair playfully as he went and Yuuri glared up at the Russian.

Wataru at least gave a slight smile at that. He looked young when he gave an expression like that, actually seeming the seventeen years old he really was. He always seemed older, the teen naturally a serious person as well as having experiences that forced him to grow up.

It passed quickly though as he gave Victor a curious look. “I’m kinda surprised that you’re easing up on us after what happened in Russia. You’ve been against us being here from the start and what happened is practically proof that you were right to worry and doubt us.”

Victor gave a nonchalant shrug but Yuuri noticed tension in the motion and a brief wave of a blend of emotions. “I’ve had some experiences with Devas that left an impression. You did enough to prove that you aren’t like that. I’ll probably still slip into old attitude at some point but I do see that you are serious about Yuuri’s feelings and choices being the priority.”

Wataru was curious but it was on the edges of his response and he didn’t even look like he wanted to ask Victor to elaborate. He just nodded acceptance and turned back toward the door. “That’ll help. You not trusting us when we’re working on Yuuri improving his control and connection to his cores could backfire, what with his Empathy able to pick up on it. And cores in general are picky things in the early days of training.”

Yuuri stood from the bench and followed behind Wataru and Victor. “How long did it take for you to feel like you’d gotten the hang of your cores?”

“It comes and goes. Side effect of how my cores work mixed in with how I never got over not wanting to be a user in the first place.”

It was said dismissively enough but there was a deep-seated disdain; Wataru really didn’t like that he had cores, which he’d mentioned before more than once but this was the first time Yuuri could really feel how much Wataru didn’t like the cores that were a part of him and so integral to his life.

Wataru stepped to the side when they reached the door to Shion and Nezumi’s room, knocking briefly as Yuuri walked past him to lead the way to his room, Yuichi stepping out of his and Wataru’s room as they passed. Yuuri reached the door to his room and slid it open, making his way right for the bed so the rest of them would have room to enter and close the door behind them for privacy. He sat down on the edge of the bed, Victor dropping down beside him and they watched the Devas and agents glance around, figuring out where to situate themselves. Surprisingly, Yuichi looked around the room and then gave a brief grin before he turned and stepped back out into the hall. “I don’t need to be in the room to monitor for threats. I’ll stay out in the hall, make it a little more comfortable in here while you’re working,” he explained before sliding the door closed.

Shion nodded absently as he gave Yuuri instruction, “You can go ahead and lay down, Yuuri, however you want to be comfortable. Once you’re settled, start your breathing exercise and try to find your awareness of all three of your cores.”

Yuuri was shifting his position as Wataru added, “Victor, it’ll be best if you keep some sort of contact with him. Hold his hand or something familiar like that.”

Yuuri just laid on his back, Victor moving so he was sitting between Yuuri and the wall, leaning his back against it as he then reached for Yuuri’s hand, intertwining their fingers as he rested their hands in his lap, his free hand resting on Yuuri’s forearm. He was aware that Wataru had turned around his computer chair from the desk and sat down as Nezumi just leaned against the desk to Wataru’s right. Shion remained standing, positioning himself in front of Nezumi, which made sense because Nezumi was there to keep an eye on Shion, not Yuuri.

Yuuri closed his eyes then, slowing down his breathing and easing into his meditative pattern. With nothing around him to catch his attention, he was acutely aware of the gradual tempering of emotions he picked up from Wataru, Shion, and Nezumi, making Victor all the more obvious.

And Victor was nervous, more nervous than he’d been the previous night or throughout the day. Yuuri squeezed at his hand briefly before he felt for the now familiar pulsing in his chest, deciding it would be easiest to go for the one he was more comfortable feeling out. And he found the pulse of his Empathy core almost immediately, happy that he’d succeeded so quickly. And then he had to fight not to get frustrated as he struggled to find the pulse in his temple. He’d feel like he was getting close to it but then he’d actually get distracted by the sensation of his Empathy core and have to start all over, like his Empathy core was trying to keep him from getting closer to his other cores.

He wondered if that was possible, if one core could interfere like that, if it made any sort of sense or would be of any sort of benefit for that to be the case. He almost gave up for the moment to ask but decided against it; it was hard to say if that was something that would lead to a long discussion of research Shion had read about or if it would be a quick answer from Wataru.

So, he just kept on trying to remember the feel of the pulsing of his Reaper core, feel out exactly where it had been yesterday so he could look there again. And _finally_ he managed to pick up on the faintest hint of a pulse just beneath the rim of his glasses where they curled over his ear. He made a mental note to remember that placement since this was one of the cores that didn’t move around. He took a few measured breath’s worth of time to get a feel for the pulse so he could start feeling around for the core that did have the freedom to go anywhere in his body it wanted. It hadn’t been anywhere near his Empathy or Reaper core or he figured he would have felt the different pulse so he used another one of the meditation techniques Wataru had taught him, one that instead of focusing on breathing was all about becoming conscious of every limb in turn. It was apparently something Wataru had used in his early training with his cores to increase his general body awareness so he could cut back on pointless movements, especially when it had been a time when he’d still been accidentally tapping into his Esper core on a more regular basis.

So, starting at his feet and spending about ten seconds just feeling them - the feel of his socks against his skin, the points the bed supported his heels, the lingering soreness of the balls of his feet and toes from all the work he’d put into his jumps earlier that day, and checking for the pulse he’d felt from his Ghost core the previous day – before he moved up his body systematically, searching. He finally picked out the sensation he’d been searching for, finding the pulse just below his floating ribs on his right side, right next to where Victor’s knees were resting just a few inches away from Yuuri’s body. So, even though it wasn’t where Victor was making contact with him, the core was still close to Victor.

“I’ve got all three,” Yuuri said in a low voice once he was certain that he wouldn’t lose track of anything once he was splitting his attention between listening to instruction as well as keeping connected to his cores.

“Good instincts,” Wataru said in a low voice.

“Yes, that’ll be for his benefit. And his awareness alone is getting a reaction from the Ghost core. It’s paying attention, ready to respond.” Shion said, his tone not as quiet but he was obviously on the verge of observational rambling. “Ok, Yuuri. The most basic way a Ghost core can be directed is by purposefully initiating a projection. More advanced abilities would be commanding it where to project to.” Yuuri gave a slight nod of understanding. “It’s all about needing to be somewhere else. Not ‘wanting’ but ‘needing’. Wanting isn’t enough for your core to actually change the signals and chemicals in your brain to fall asleep immediately so the core can activate. Remember, a Ghost core is impossible to activate while still awake. It relies on the brain being in R.E.M. to function.”

“And people wonder why Ghosts aren’t allowed to be Devas,” Nezumi muttered before there was a dull thud and he let out a brief huff.

“Save your charm for another time, Nezumi,” Shion chastised. “It was enough to combine the thought of ‘needing’ to be somewhere else and have that somewhere not be nearby for it to activate for me. I projected to my mom’s bakery. Perhaps if you have a good friend that you would like to see, that will make it easier.”

“Do you think having an affinity might make it easier?” Yuuri asked, nearly having to stop in the middle as he missed the awareness of a pulse of the Ghost core and it wasn’t in the exact same place on the next pulse he felt.

“Affinities always make for a good anchor. Do you have an affinity with someone?”

“Yeah, a friend of mine. Formed a few years ago.”

“You have an affinity with Phichit?” Victor asked, Yuuri hearing the pout in his tone. Yuuri had to resist smiling and squeezed at his hand briefly as a comfort.

Shion sounded like he was holding back excitement as he spoke again, “An older affinity. That’ll be great. It should help it be very easy to get your Ghost core to respond to wanting to see the one you already have a solid connection with. Take your time, Yuuri. There is no rush to figuring this out and the less of my words you’re thinking and the more of your own there is involved the better, as we found yesterday. We’ll be here watching over you but try not to be aware of us. We’ll help you out if you need it. But once you do activate your core, it can be very difficult to keep track of time and duration of the projection is going to be what drains you. Try not to push it. Try to figure out a way to make it as brief as possible for the sake of not draining yourself immediately.”

Yuuri nodded again and took in a deep breath, releasing it slowly to empty his lungs before returning his breathing to the meditative rhythm.

He could do this.

And how Shion had explained it this time around was definitely very easy to understand, the agent likely having tried to get that figured out through the day. And while Yuuri would have likely had trouble with convincing himself that he wanted to be somewhere else, he could definitely work with the desire to see his best friend. He talked with Phichit semi-regularly since the Cup of China but it wasn’t the same. He pretty much always missed his friend on some level, which was to be expected after spending a few years constantly around each other and getting close. He could always count on Phichit and he knew that not everyone had that sort of friend in their life.

So, yeah, he really did want to see Phichit. He wanted the familiarity of their friendship while there was so much about his life right now that was new. He might feel just that little bit calmer if he could see his best friend, even if it was just for a few seconds. Any time he got to see his friend was worth it and helped him. It wouldn’t be any different now.

The pulsing in his side was moving, sliding across his body to the other side and then traveling upwards below his ribcage until the feel of it became completely indiscernible from the feel of his Empathy core’s pulsing. He tried not to panic about losing the core he’d needed to stay aware of and just did his best to keep that same thought process of wanting to see Phichit in the forefront of his mind. He wasn’t entirely successful at first, unable to ignore a part of the exercise that was supposedly a huge reason it should work or not and he had to take in a few deep breaths as he let his focus lapse. He wasn’t too worried, familiar enough with how his mind worked to know that him taking a few moments now would mean he didn’t get worse off if he tried to push through. It was definitely something that he’d become more aware of since Victor became his coach and he squeezed at Victor’s hand absently.

He had a thought then: what if the Ghost core syncing up with his Empathy core meant that what he’d been doing was working? Shion had said that the way his Ghost core had worked up until now without his direction was because he was a Chimera and how his different dispositions were interacting with each other. And even if he was trying to give it direction now, wouldn’t it still work like it had before because he was being so vague with what he wanted it to do? Wouldn’t it be just like any other habit someone built?

If that was the case, that would mean he wasn’t doing anything wrong.

It was harder than he thought it would be to keep from getting excited about that thought.

Taking in a few more deep breaths to get focused again, Yuuri returned his thoughts much more easily to what they had been before: wanting to see Phichit for a few seconds, keeping an awareness of the pulsing at his chest and left temple.

He lost track of time when with one of the pulses from his chest, a warm sensation spread throughout his body, flowing through him completely, the same thing happening again at the next pulse and he was just about to really get concerned when he realized that he couldn’t move. His limbs felt too heavy and he had barely any awareness of the bed beneath him or Victor’s hand holding his own. He even tried to open his eyes, worried about what was happening to him but he couldn’t. His eyes remained closed no matter how much he tried.

Was this a familiar feeling, Yuuri found himself wondering. He thought he could connect this feeling to something he’d panicked about before, possibly even recently.

It didn’t help him really calm down, though. He felt like he couldn’t breath right, like he couldn’t actually control his breathing anymore, and that just made it worse. He needed to figure out what was wrong with him. Was there any way Shion and Wataru would know something was going on? Would they be able to do anything if they did know? But if they could interfere, wouldn’t they have already?

He needed to open his eyes and figure out what was going on. He had to open his eyes.

Repeating the thought over and over again suddenly worked, his eyes opening and he flinched them closed again as there was a lot more light than there had been when he closed them.

He wasn’t laying on his bed, he realized at about the same time. He was in a standing position but he couldn’t feel the weight of his body on his feet or even feel the floor beneath his feet, which were bare. Blinking his eyes open slowly to get used to the light, he realized that he didn’t recognize where he was. It was an ice rink but not one that he remembered training or competing in. It was small, even smaller than Ice Castle with a few people spread out across the rink, working on their own but he didn’t see any faces he recognized among them.

He was about to get really confused when someone skated by him, passing just barely in front of Yuuri, making him reflexively pull away. At least with how he wasn’t really standing on anything, it meant he didn’t fall over. That allowed him to look at who had passed him and his jaw dropped when he saw Phichit skating, now a few feet away. Yuuri felt his voice try to call out to his friend but no sound made it past his throat.

It looked like Phichit was just warming up, not working on anything in particular. Yuuri had joined him often enough when they were training together in Detroit to recognize his friend’s process. Yuuri reached out, wanting to have a way of proving that he was really there, that he’d actually succeeded in activating his Ghost core. But it was like he was only half-there and while it was like he was moving forward and he was definitely getting closer to Phichit, it was just like a slight shift in perspective and not that he was actually moving.

He didn’t stop trying though. He wanted to get close to Phichit, like accomplishing that would give him everything he needed to know this was real. If he could just call out Phichit’s name and have his friend give any indication that he knew he was there he felt that would be enough. And he didn’t remember Wataru or Shion mentioning that he shouldn’t be able to move while projecting. It was supposed to be just like he was there so it didn’t make sense if that meant he couldn’t move. Speaking, sure, he’d accept that not being a thing since most people shouldn’t even know he was there and those that did shouldn’t be able to hear him if he could talk but he should be able to move.

Phichit was skating further away and Yuuri tried reaching out again but nothing changed. He remained where he was. Frustrated, he wanted to shout at how he must have messed something up. And he felt the sound build up in his throat until he exhaled a loud growl as he sat up in his bed, the sound dying off quickly enough as he realized that he was moving and making sound, sitting on his bed with Victor beside him, Shion, Wataru, and Nezumi in the room watching him.

He knew he was blushing as he looked around and confirmed that he was definitely back in his room.

But then, he’d never actually left. But he clearly remembered not being there. He’d been with Phichit. He remembered.

Trying to not get too caught up in that, Yuuri blinked a few times, clearing his vision before reaching up to pull his glasses off and rub at his eyes. That helped a lot and he felt more centered once he slid his glasses back on. He looked to Victor then, who was trying to not look concerned and failing. Yuuri reached out to take Victor’s hand back in his and interlocked their fingers.

“I’m okay,” he soothed. Victor watched him carefully for a few seconds before he gave a slight smile and nodded acceptance.

“You scared me, sitting up like that so suddenly. It’s only been about a minute since you fell asleep,” Victor replied.

Yuuri looked over to the others. “It worked. I really activated my core and I saw Phichit. He was on the ice, either just starting or finishing up.”

Shion gave him a smile. “It took you a while but that isn’t too surprising. The thought process needed takes a lot of conviction to last all throughout the process of the core activating and carrying out what you want it to do. Most cores don’t have as stark of a delay between command and execution. There was an interruption in the activation, though. I’m curious: it was working and then stopped for a few seconds. Do you know what happened?”

Yuuri took a moment to cross his legs in front of him to get more comfortable, turning slightly to face more towards Shion, letting his arm relax between him and Victor as the Russian kept hold of his hand.

Even as he’d been getting used to Victor being in contact with him, reaching for him, hugging him, wanting to touch him, there were still moments where he realized how accustomed he’d become to that touch. He wasn’t embarrassed or nervous about the touch or holding hands in front of these other young men and it was only partially because he knew they had their own relationships where they would understand the love between him and Victor…even if he was still figuring it out himself.

He took in a deep breath and let most of it out before answering. “Yeah, the pulsing I feel from my cores matched up between the Empathy and Ghost cores. I lost track of it and was worried about having to find it again. But then I thought that maybe it was how it was supposed to work and kept going.”

“Again, good instincts,” Wataru said absently. “Plenty of people would have stopped and then they’d have to start all over again and might even rinse-and-repeat a few times before they figured out what was happening. You might just have a knack for this.”

“Or he’s actually paying attention to all the random shit Shion spouts,” Nezumi added, his partner shooting him a brief glare over his shoulder. “What? You ramble and only make sense to most people about half the time. That’s just how you are.” Nezumi reached forward and ruffled Shion’s hair briefly, his fingers then brushing through the white strands before he pulled away. Nezumi must still have been recovering from their separation to have so seemingly randomly given in to the urge to touch Shion like that, even in semi-private as they were.

“But hearing something and being able to apply it in the moment are very different things,” Wataru continued, not being in a position to see the exchange between the agents. “Talking from experience here. My training included a lot of restarts to accomplish something on purpose. But it really worked, Yuuri? You lost all awareness of here and only saw there where your friend is?”

“Yeah. It was like I suddenly couldn’t feel or control my body. It was a little scary actually. But then I was able to open my eyes again and I was somewhere else. And even though I could feel the chill of the ice rink, it couldn’t feel the weight of my body, move, or speak, no matter how much I tried. Did I do something wrong?”

Shion gave him a kind smile. “No, you did nothing wrong. Being able to project speech so that it can be heard by people without certain dispositions is extremely advanced. Moving and actually having sensations is something that should come with time as you gain more experience and proficiency with projecting. Those sort of specifications need to be made before the projection is activated. It took me a few tries to be able to incorporate things like that as well and I wasn’t able to truly test being able to be heard since I’m not really close to many users to know someone to attempt it with. Well, Wataru may be able to hear it but he’s too close for me to get the projection to work for now; I need to experiment more in that regard to figure that out for myself. You’ll need to find your minimum range for projection.”

“Most users get to worry about how far away their abilities can reach. You get the opposite. A good Ghost can project into the same building as their own body,” Wataru clarified.

“Right,” Yuuri said automatically. He was having a hard time not getting caught up doubting that he’d ever get this figured out. Things never came easy for him and he’d actually thought that he could figure out something like a rare disposition? Just because it was his didn’t mean it was easy, as he’d just figured out with one simple activation of his core. As much as Wataru kept noting that he had good instincts, nothing about what he’d done had come naturally. He’d lucked out getting it to work this time. Could he even do it again if he wanted?

Lips touched the skin behind his ear, pushing his glasses forward ever so slightly and Yuuri had to focus to not startle away from Victor’s affection.

“You did great, Yuuri.”

How was it that Victor never failed to believe in him? At least Yuuri’s faith in Victor was well-earned over many years of watching the man succeed. Yuuri didn’t have that.

Victor seemed to pick up on his enduring anxiety, just like he always did, and the Russian let go of his hand only to wrap his arms around Yuuri’s shoulders and pulled him back against Victor’s chest to give him a brief tight squeeze before relaxing his hold to stay looped around Yuuri without putting any strength into the embrace. He was allowing Yuuri the option to reclaim his space if he wanted.

“He isn’t wrong,” Shion added once it was clear that Yuuri wasn’t going to move or say anything. “You accomplished the purposeful use of an ability for one of your cores the first time you tried. I believe Nezumi is the only other one among us that can claim that.”

“You mean you didn’t?” Yuuri asked, surprised. As much experience as Shion had, it didn’t seem to fit that he hadn’t always just succeeded.

“Oh no, I have always struggled with my initial use of my cores. Besides the instinctual use of my Wraith and Dispel cores when they first awakened, it was months before I was able to gain some measure of control over them. I’ve gotten better as I’ve learned how to use abilities of more dispositions, but I do tend to struggle at first.”

Yuuri glanced over at Wataru even though he figured that with as much issues as Wataru declared to have even now with his control that nothing about his cores came easily. Wataru gave him a shrug in response, like he knew what Yuuri was thinking. It was probably easy enough to guess anyway.

“What would you like to do now? You did well on managing your power output and so didn’t actually drain much stored strength of your Ghost core, though it does seem as though your Empathy core has expended some power. That may be why they synced up: your Ghost core not only used the deep bond your Empathy core would have with someone you have an affinity with but it would also use its power to help reach him. I wonder if it would do the same thing with your Reaper core when you have witnessed the deaths of others. We can’t actually test that but it is something to keep in mind as you move forward in learning about your cores and abilities.”

Nezumi reached out and tugged on Shion’s hair, making Shion cut himself off. “You’re rambling,” Nezumi declared with an amused tone. He turned his attention to Yuuri. “Wanna try again now or call it a night on a successful trial run?”

Yuuri took a moment even though his answer didn’t change after he thought about it. “I’d like to try again.”

Yuuri laid back down, was excited by how he could immediately feel the pulsing of all three of his cores but still began his breathing rhythm.

He tried seven more times before Shion told him that the next attempt would fail because of a lack of enough power within his cores. Out of those seven attempts, Yuuri failed to activate his Ghost core four times, something in his mental process getting lost in the process enough that he didn’t successfully project. He kept it to himself that each time he’d failed had been when he’d tried to figure out how he could move around and talk while projected; he just felt like that was important to figure out regardless of Shion telling him that it was something more advanced.

And if they had told him that six months ago, he would have listened. He wouldn’t have taken the risk, either for certainty of failure or a complete lack of confidence in himself. But that wasn’t who he was anymore: he understood now that certain risks were worth taking.

And his drive to figure this out, to take _this_ risk felt as right of a choice as the quad flip had felt in China.

Victor staying by his side the whole time, just being there at the peripherals of Yuuri’s awareness every time he opened his eyes after projecting helped more than he had imagined it would. It was like every time he came back was like coming home where he was safe and loved.

And when Yuuri had expressed that he wanted to work the next night, Shion had him activate his core once more so Shion could Mirror it and explore the disposition a bit more himself that night. They all parted ways, Yuuri feeling as accomplished as he would after finishing a program successfully.

He hadn’t expected that but he certainly welcomed it. He needed all the success he could get right now.


	12. Parting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The visitors need to leave...

Yuuri was just finishing cooling off, taking a few easy laps of the rink, Victor having already stepped off the ice to take his skates off.

It had been a good practice, Yuuri spending the entire time working on his Short Program and ending up feeling that he was at least a step closer to being ready for the Finals. He always needed more work but he had landed all his jumps perfectly on about half of his run-throughs and that made him feel confident. And they’d finished off their practice by working on Yuuri’s exhibition piece so he could relax but still work on something he needed to practice to have ready.

And after a week, Yuuri was finally waking up without a headache or chest pains from using his cores. His mind and body had gotten used to purposefully activating his abilities. He’d honestly been getting ready to accept that he’d never be able to use his Ghost core without feeling worse than he ever had no matter how many times he’d been told it would pass.

Yuuri skated over toward the access door of the rink, grabbing his glasses from where he’d left them and sliding them on. He glanced up just as he was about to step off the ice and hesitated when he saw Wataru standing a few meters away watching him. Victor was sitting on one of the nearby benches, skates off, arms crossed, and expression cautious. So Wataru hadn’t said anything to the Russian as to why he was there. Wataru and Shion hadn’t come to Ice Castle at all over the past week, Wataru giving the explanation that the primary reason they’d stuck so close before had been because they were trying to figure out Yuuri’s disposition. He’d then continued with the additional point that Yuichi being a Paladin meant that not only could they know if Yuuri was in danger, at least one of them could get there quickly enough to defend him. He’d finished off by saying that just because they weren’t there didn’t mean they weren’t nearby.

“Hey, Wataru,” Yuuri greeted passively enough as he slipped his guards over his skates and made his way over to the bench next to Victor where his duffel bag was. “What are you doing here? Is something wrong?”

“Wrong, no. I just needed to talk to you really quick.”

Yuuri frowned, unable to figure out what he was picking up from Wataru. Not only was what he felt a complex blend of emotions but it was also muted. Actually, all four of the visitors had gotten pretty proficient at blocking Yuuri off from picking up on their emotions most of the time. Yuuri couldn’t actually tell if they were trying to hide something from him or if they were just taking advantage of being around someone with an Empathy core constantly for training.

And considering Shion had Mirrored his Empathy core numerous times over the past few days, he figured it was a training thing for Shion at least. Well, that and Shion was the most open out of all of them.

“What about?” Yuuri replied, realizing from Wataru’s questioning look that there had been a moment of silence where Yuuri had gotten caught up in his thoughts.

“Easiest way to put it is it’s a final evaluation for the sake of my report to the Devas concerning my investigation.”

Victor cut in before Yuuri could speak. “I thought you weren’t going to report his dispositions.”

“As long as he doesn’t want me to, I won’t. But that isn’t what I mean. I still have to say whether or not he made progress with the civilian training I ended up conducting. At least that’s what my official reason is to the Devas for why I stuck around so long. Because Shion may have a lot of leeway with sticking around but I don’t. I just need to close out a progress report based around feedback from Yuuri.”

“That’s fine,” Yuuri said as he reached over and laid his hand soothingly on Victor’s arm for a moment.

“I’m just going to start by confirming that you still want your dispositions to be undocumented?”

Yuuri did take a few seconds to consider it, think about putting it on his personal files the dispositions he had and realized easily enough that his mind wasn’t changed about that. It still felt like something he needed to keep between him and these few people who really understood keeping a secret. So he nodded and said, “Yes, I’m sure I want to keep it off my records. As long as it can be marked that my dispositions aren’t ones that aren’t allowed to remain unsealed by the skating federation.”

“That’s easy enough. Civilian users have a right to privacy concerning their dispositions and parts of my report will be attached to your JSF profile, confirming you qualified to compete without a seal.” Yuuri nodded understanding and waited for Wataru to continue, the young man seeming to hesitate now. “I think you’re making the right choice there. Not all rare dispositions mean protective custody but you would be at a higher risk if it was on record. You’re in the public eye and the right curious Oni could look into you, find you have a rare disposition, and there’s a target painted on you. If you want to maintain your lifestyle as it is, this was the best way to go about it.”

Yuuri glanced over to Victor, who gave him a slight shrug and smile.

Seeing the exchange, Wataru shook his head, focusing himself and he quickly regained his serious demeanor. “I need you to get a sense of all three cores, naming them once you’ve got them.”

Yuuri frowned in confusion even as he answered. “I don’t stop being aware of the Empathy core. Ghost core is close to the Empathy core. Got the Reaper core.”

Wataru nodded. “Proven awareness of core discharge in under five seconds. Chances of accidental activation low. No indication of Oni activity having been taken and Shion will provide confirmation. And character observation of me and Yuichi will reflect that we believe there is next to no possibility of you taking actions that would classify you as an Oni. My recommendation is to forego any further investigation and not schedule any follow-up unless requested by the civilian or by his friends or family expressing concern.”

There was a short pause before Victor asked, “That’s it?”

“We’ve been here a few weeks, so yeah. There would be a bit more to it if I’d only been here a few days but I’ve had plenty of time to get what I need to back this up in my report. Believe it or not, I do actually know my way around my job and what the Devas are looking for in sending me out here. And, ultimately, our concern is Oni and Yuuri is hardly an Oni so too much beyond this is more for the User Enforcement Agency.”

“Does that mean that if I have any issues or questions, I shouldn’t even try to ask you?” Yuuri asked.

Wataru looked confused, Yuuri eventually picking up on the emotions to match. “Um, if you want, I guess I can leave you my number and you could get in touch with me. But there are plenty of other people out there that are way better about this sort of thing than me. Hell, there’s one back at the onsen.”

“You helped me, too, Wataru, not just Shion.”

Wataru shrugged and said, “I meant Nezumi but I guess Shion has his moments.”

Yuuri had a moment to be confused when Victor laughed and enough amusement came from Wataru for Yuuri to get that he’d been joking. Wataru didn’t usually joke around like that so it hadn’t been expected in the least. There was an underlying hint of embarrassment Yuuri was starting to pick up on so he thought it might be Wataru working around that.

It faded quickly though as Wataru stepped in a little closer so he could lower his voice enough that it wouldn’t carry throughout the rink. “Yuichi and I leave tomorrow. I’ve already told Nezumi and encouraged him to try and convince Shion to leave as well.”

“Why the insistence?” Yuuri asked.

“I know you aren’t learning how to control your Ghost core for nothing. You’re curious about the times you weren’t in control, the times you don’t remember, the times you connected to Shion and I and saw Oni. You’re trying to figure that out, find a way to control that ability.”

Yuuri had no idea how Wataru figured that out. None of them had brought that up again in all the time they’d been working with Yuuri and it hadn’t happened since Yuuri had been marked.

Wataru continued on after a short pause, possibly giving Yuuri a chance to deny it but he wasn’t a good enough liar to even try. “You’d think after being marked and attacked by a Shade that you would see how stupid of an idea it is to figure out an ability that would bring you to Oni, especially ones as dangerous as Hajime. Because while there aren’t many dispositions that would allow them to see your projection, there are plenty of users that can at least feel discharge. And anyone, user or not, can figure out when there’s something off around them. Like Hajime figured out you were around and had someone around that could kick you back here. Except that’s not the dangerous part about you showing up around Hajime: he’s smart enough to figure out what it was that he felt. He could very easily work out that there’s a Ghost on him and then he’ll be looking for you. Hajime is not the Oni you want targeting you.”

Yuuri looked down to the floor between them before asking, “There really isn’t anything I can do to help you?”

“Whatever gave you the idea that you should be trying to help us out here? I’m a Deva, Yuichi is my affinity partner and a Paladin, Shion is a U.E.A. agent who has been trained by Devas and actively working against them since he was thirteen, and Nezumi is his affinity partner and just about the best fighter someone can be without being a Paladin or Valkyrie. You are a civilian, a figure skater who isn’t looking to change that. And this is something you can’t have both ways.” Wataru realized he’d been raising his voice and let out a heavy sigh as he ran his hands through his hair roughly. “It’s not worth giving up all you have to help us out. You’re a really good person, Yuuri. Both of you are,” he added with a look over to Victor. “I won’t be part of the reason anyone else got dragged into dealing with Hajime like I did. That’s what I’m doing with my time as a Deva. And since us being here is what is putting you at risk, we need to leave before you’ve lost your choice. Now, if you stumble across figuring it out or ending up with another Shade mark because of your own actions, that’s another thing completely. But I’m done putting you in danger and I won’t be made into some tool for your recklessness.”

Wataru was probably close to tears with how upset he was about what he was saying. He was holding it together pretty well but Yuuri was picking up more and more as the moments passed and Wataru lost grip on his control. Wataru cared so much about this, about making sure Yuuri stayed out of it. Yuuri appreciated that, he really did. He just still felt the same drive as he had before.

Then again, as far as they knew, Yuuri’s ability that had allowed him to project to the Oni had been because of proximity to Shion and Wataru. Them leaving would likely mean Yuuri wouldn’t be able to see people he’d never met before, especially since he didn’t actually remember when he’d done it before. Maybe if he’d remembered he could do it again but that wasn’t the case.

Wataru let out a heavy sigh before he reached out like he was going to pat Yuuri’s shoulder but stopped short and then dropped his hand again as he stepped away. “Just don’t do anything without telling someone about it.” He glanced over to Victor briefly before looking back at Yuuri. “If you aren’t going to stay safe, the least you can do is be smart about putting yourself in danger. And I’ll make sure you have both Yuichi and my number. Shion will probably give you his as well if you ask him; he’ll like keeping in contact with you and doesn’t have many people to talk to because of his secret.”

Wataru turned to leave, getting a few meters away when Yuuri called out to him. “Wataru?” He stopped and looked over his shoulder, waiting for Yuuri to continue. “Thank you for everything. I’m glad I learned all I did about my cores even if I was against it at first.”

Wataru turned more towards them and gave them a smile, the expression making him look so much younger, his usual serious demeanor giving way to what was frankly a beautiful young man.

“I’m glad you feel that way, especially since I strong-armed my way through quite a bit with you. But ignorance isn’t always bliss, after all.” He then turned completely toward Yuuri and gave him a polite bow. “I’m glad I got to meet you and get to know you, Yuuri Katsuki. If we meet again, let’s have it not be in an official capacity.”

He turned and left then, leaving Yuuri and Victor alone again in silence. Yuuri watched the door for about a minute before he sighed and stood, stretching his arms over his head, his lower back letting out a soft pop from his body cooling off without his usual stretching. He was just relaxing his arms back down to his sides when Victor’s hand pressed against his lower back through his shirt. Yuuri looked over to the Russian and gave him a questioning look.

“He’s right, Yuuri,” Victor said in a low voice, his emotions a complicated blend. It was interesting to Yuuri that someone who was usually very straightforward, especially with him, would so often be taken by so many emotions when it came to cores, Oni, and the Devas.

It didn’t mean Yuuri was any less curious about it, though. “Victor?” he implored Victor to continue.

“You don’t need to figure out being able to project to Oni. They are dangerous and you have already been attacked. You aren’t a Deva. You have had barely any training with your cores and your dispositions don’t have abilities suited for fighting anyway. I’m not saying you shouldn’t want to help.” Victor stood and cupped Yuuri’s cheeks with both hands as he gave him an intense look before smiling. “You’re such a kind person that you wanting to help is practically to be expected.” The smile faded and Victor almost looked sad. “You can want to help as long as the help you offer is something that you are able to give. And you can’t help the Devas fight Oni.”

Victor’s tone had become similar to the one he used while he was coaching Yuuri, making the younger man feel a little more inclined to pay attention out of habit. But then what Victor said was completely true: Yuuri had no idea how to fight, his dispositions were completely passive, and his one encounter with an Oni had proven to him how useless he’d be if it happened again.

“I’m not looking to get into a fight with any Oni, Victor,” Yuuri felt like he needed to point that out.

“You _should_ be looking to never run into one ever again,” Victor kept up his more authoritative voice and Yuuri felt a sliver of fear pass through the Russian briefly and he knew he needed to drop the subject.

Yuuri lifted his hand to rest it over Victor’s, squeezing at the fingers briefly. “I know, Victor. Don’t worry. I’m not looking for any sort of career change right now and I know I don’t stand a chance against any Oni. I’ll leave that to those who are more capable than me. But I’d still like to spend some time with them before they leave.”

Victor leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to Yuuri’s cheek before he let his hands drop and stepped away. “Dinner and then a good soak in the hot springs. You’ve been skipping out to work on controlling your cores the past few days and I don’t want you to get all stiff and sore with all that tension you carry in your neck and shoulders.”

Yuuri gave the Russian a fond smile as he was handed his duffel bag. “You do remember that the five years I lived in Detroit I didn’t have an onsen available to me daily, right? I went weeks without soaking in a hot tub.”

Just as Yuuri shrugged into the straps of the duffel bag, Victor threw his arms around his shoulders dramatically. “And I’m sure your body complained constantly for that kind of abuse.” Yuuri laughed as they headed out of the ice rink and toward the exit for their normal ride and run home.

The evening passed as it normally did. Yuuri and Victor joined the Devas and U.E.A. agents for dinner, Shion confirming that he and Nezumi would be leaving the next day as well. Officially, without Wataru there, staying would be putting them outside their normal duties and Nezumi had convinced Shion that it wasn’t worth finding a way to justify the longer stay to the ones they reported to. He’d further clinched the decision by pointing out to Shion that he’d be staying more for himself than Yuuri. Shion was determined to learn everything he could about controlling the Ghost disposition and to do so would practically be turning Yuuri into a tool for Shion’s training. Shion had folded at that immediately.

And as they were talking, Yuuri realized that he was going to genuinely miss these people. Despite not getting a chance to really get to know Yuichi, it was obvious that they were all genuinely good people and Yuuri had always valued when he was lucky enough to meet more people like that. And while he couldn’t be sure about having a lot in common with them aside from them all being users, he didn’t think that was necessary for people to get along as long as their personalities matched up well. Even Nezumi and his blunt and mostly apathetic nature had those moments that proved that he wasn’t someone so easy to judge or predict.

Yuuri and Victor finished up their dinner and headed for the shower and onsen, Victor settling in close beside Yuuri so that he could massage out his shoulders while they talked. Yuuri appreciated it, Victor being very good at finding the knots in his neck and shoulders as well as Yuuri liking the contact. When they finished up and got out, they parted ways for a while, Victor taking Makkachin for a walk since the dog had stayed at the onsen instead of going to Ice Castle with them that day. Yuuri went to his room and video chatted with Phichit, his friend having texted him while they were eating dinner, the two catching up on their progress getting ready for the Finals.

Yuuri had finished up his talk with Phichit, gotten into bed, and was passing time scrolling through his few social medias to relax and wind down to fall asleep. He wasn’t surprised when there was a soft knock at his door and he even felt himself give a small smile as he stood up and slid the door open, Victor standing on the other side with a wide smile of his own. Makkachin trotted past both of them and jumped onto the bed, curling up at the foot of the bed with his head perched on his front paws, watching the two men.

“Makkachin and I were wondering if we could get some good old-fashioned Yuuri cuddles before bed,” Victor declared with a wide grin and Yuuri couldn’t help but flush even as he laughed.

There were times that he thought he might be able to predict the things Victor would say but they were usually followed quickly be something like this. Considering the last time Victor had asked to stay in his room, he’d been much more careful, Yuuri hadn’t expected it to only take one time with him agreeing to get Victor to completely relax about it. And he could tell that the Russian really wasn’t worried about his answer: he was excited and anxious but the anxiety wasn’t from being nervous.

Yuuri stepped to the side and bowed his head slightly as Victor walked past him and toward the bed. He was already dressed for bed in a pair of loose cloth pants and t-shirt, which Yuuri appreciated the consideration since he knew Victor usually slept with less on. Victor sat close to the end of the bed and pet Makkachin as Yuuri closed his door and then walked back toward the bed and sat down next to Victor.

“I had the thought that you might want some company tonight with them leaving tomorrow. You looked so disappointed when we finished dinner,” Victor said, his tone passive enough, conversational.

“I’m definitely not opposed,” Yuuri replied, still smiling. “I’m glad I was able to meet them. And not just because of the help they gave me with my cores but they are just really interesting people. Spending time around people who aren’t skaters is an interesting change of pace. Even when I was living in Detroit going to school, I didn’t really hang out with people from my classes. It was usually Phichit and other rink mates.”

“That doesn’t really surprise me,” Victor declared with a laugh. “You aren’t famous for your social life.”

Yuuri rolled his eyes and moved to pull his blanket down and slid up and toward the wall to lay down in case Victor was only planning on staying until he fell asleep. He grabbed his phone, making sure it was plugged in before he set it on the windowsill. Victor had leaned over Makkachin to give him a hug and then followed Yuuri to lay down, pulling the blanket up to his waist and then turned to his side to face Yuuri as he laid down on his back. As soon as Yuuri got settled, Victor reached for his hand, intertwining their fingers and then rested the joined hands on Yuuri’s stomach. The simple touch helped Yuuri to relax towards sleep.

His mind wandered in his relaxation, thinking over his day, considering how tomorrow would go, acknowledging that he was truly disappointed that he hadn’t been able to make more progress with his cores while Shion and Wataru were there, and wondering if he could even really make any more progress without them there to help. He would have to start researching on his own instead of being able to rely on the knowledge of the U.E.A. agent as he’d been able to do until now. And he figured that anytime Shion hadn’t known an answer, that meant that it was something that would either not have a definite answer or that it would be hard to find.

He didn’t think he was giving Shion too much credit either. He’d never met anyone who knew as much about users and dispositions as Shion did and he’d learned long ago that anyone who learned a significant amount about any topic deserved some respect and attention. He’d make for a poor student if he hadn’t picked that simple fact up.

Victor moved in a little closer to Yuuri, leaning his head against Yuuri’s shoulder, the man obviously relaxing into his own sleep. Soothed by the presence of the man he’d become so familiar being around, it wasn’t long before Yuuri felt his mind and body relaxing enough that he knew he’d fall asleep soon enough, Yuuri losing track of time as he got closer.

It was like a light switch was flipped in him suddenly and he was aware of a now familiar pulse spreading from his mind and throughout his body. He tried to open his eyes, move his body, interrupt his breathing, anything that would keep his Ghost core from activating without his instruction, but nothing worked and he felt the pull of his mind to wherever he’d connected with. And now that he knew exactly what was happening, he was afraid of being out of control of the process. He was sure that he’d been afraid when it would happen before but he didn’t remember that and he only hoped he remembered it this time so he could figure out how to keep it from happening.

Because while he’d wanted to help Shion and Wataru with that apparently unique ability of his, he wanted it to be something he controlled. Nothing good ever came from messing around with core power beyond one’s control. What if someone got hurt because of this?

His panic made no difference though. He still felt himself being pulled away from his body and bed and Victor, losing track almost immediately of where he was only to come to a stumbling halt a few seconds later.

And he’d actually stumbled, he realized after about a second of trying to get his bearings. He was standing, his bare feet on the floor able to feel the cold of the linoleum floor of a kitchen, the size indicating an apartment but he couldn’t figure out anything that might tell him where that apartment was.

His vision while astral projecting was about the same as it was with his body because he hadn’t figured out how to make that any different. Shion had told him that his projection should be able to “see” fine because it wasn’t actually using a body to perceive anything but Yuuri had to understand that on a much more fundamental and automatic manner than he did now to clear up his projection’s vision.

He really wished he’d figured that part out already as he tried to will his surroundings into focus. And he was near-sighted so this shouldn’t be that difficult. He wasn’t that far away from the appliances or various wrappers spread carelessly around the counter and even the floor.

“The Glyph emblem’s active,” a voice called out from a different room, Yuuri flinching back from his surprise.

The voice hadn’t sounded right, like there was a wall between him and the other voice without any opening. But the kitchen opened into the next room and wasn’t completely enclosed with a door to access it. The voice should have been clearer than what Yuuri heard, especially since there was absolutely nothing wrong with his hearing.

Yuuri looked around, still trying everything he could to bring the room into focus because he was actually starting to panic a little. Beyond the kitchen, it seemed like he could make out a couch against a wall across from a door and then a hall straight across from him. There was so little to the room that he was just getting more and more confused as to why he felt so disjointed and confused.

“No one there?” another voice asked, again muffled though it sounded further away even if that’s all Yuuri could determine.

“Not that I can see anyway,” the first voice answered. “But its definitely active. They aren’t going anywhere.”

“They found themselves a Ghost, huh?” that voice was getting closer but Yuuri still couldn’t see anyone.

“That’s about all it could be. It’s pretty much the only disposition that can feel like there’s someone there but can’t be seen.”

“Couldn’t the Glyph give us anything to expose who it is?”

“Not until they were here. She said it’s a very specific process to expose a Ghost’s projection to identify them.”

Now Yuuri was really panicking. He must have connected with Wataru or Shion or both of them and had been brought to the Oni he’d seen before but couldn’t remember. They had been concerned about him doing it again and hearing them now it was obvious why. They knew about him enough to set up some sort of trap for him. He didn’t know much about Glyphs, just that they used drawings to channel their power and could do just about anything they wanted as long as they could match their drawing to what they wanted.

Yuuri looked down toward his feet, realizing that his normal short-sighted vision was actually fine. He could see the intersecting lines of some strange picture, all enclosed within a circle, and the whole thing giving off a pale glow. And just beyond the circle, his vision blurred. It was just so similar to how his vision normally blurred without glasses that he had mistaken it. Was that also why his hearing was messed up? Could they be right in front of him and he wouldn’t know any different?

Not that it would matter if he could see them. It wasn’t like he remembered what anyone looked like. He only knew it had even happened, seeing Oni, because of what Shion and Wataru had told him, which really hadn’t been much.

Which they had no way of knowing…

If they knew someone had been spying on them, that’s all they knew. That they took action to safeguard themselves against it happening again only made sense.

“How long do we have?” the second voice asked.

“As long as their core holds out. The emblem is powered by their discharge.”

“That’s not long for a Ghost. They aren’t known for their core stamina.”

“It should hold onto them longer than they would normally be able to project. Their discharge is absorbed by the emblem, then stays there until it’s actually used. And Glyph emblems don’t take nearly as much power as a Ghost’s projection. We’ve got a few hours at least.”

“Good, then I’m getting the Glyph back here so we can get a face to go along with this power.”

Yuuri’s panic increased and he stumbled back, his knees feeling weak at the prospect of being identified when Wataru and Shion had managed to keep him secret by fighting against the Shade. And all they would need to get an identification on him relatively easily was to see his face. Sure, figure skating wasn’t the most popular sport but it wasn’t too much of a stretch to think he was much easier to track down than the Devas or agents that had been helping him. He was in the public eye, more so now than ever before considering his current season and his proximity to Victor.

His back ran into something solid and he yelped at the burning sensation that spread across his body at the contact. He curled forward reflexively away from the pain but moved too fast and overbalanced forward and his hands rested against the wall of power surrounding him and he pulled them away quickly at the same burn on his palms which travelled up his arms to his elbow before it eased. He looked at his hands to see his skin turning red and inflamed.

Was he actually injured or was it just this mental image of himself that he projected?

There was a dull thud from in front of him and he looked up, seeing nothing there beyond the barrier, just as it had been all along. The thud repeated and he realized the person was knocking on the barrier.

“Might want to keep your hands to yourself in there. Rumor has it if enough damage is done to a Ghost’s projection, the core is destroyed. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for a little trial and error. But I find most people aren’t so eager to try things out when it means a high likelihood of death. Might as well just settle in and wait for your core to run dry. It’s what you get for sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

Something in the back of Yuuri’s mind said he recognized the voice but he couldn’t place it. He was afraid of it nonetheless. And the man was right: he couldn’t risk doing something that would likely destroy his core. A destroyed core killed the user, no exceptions.

But what else could he do?

He already had no idea what his Ghost endurance was really like and to add a variable like this Glyph emblem meant he had even less of an idea. And when he was projecting, he looked like he was just asleep unless Shion was using his Clairvoyance. Would anyone even notice soon enough that there was something wrong? Wataru, Shion, and Nezumi all had ways that they could interrupt his core’s power but would that work to get him out of the emblem?

Yuuri let out a shuddering breath as he kneeled down, his hand clenching at his shirt over his heart, feeling the rapid beating. His actual body was responding and he could feel that, a safety precaution according to Shion so he could know if something was wrong with his body and cancel out the projection. So his body was responding to what he was experiencing now but he didn’t know to what extent. He’d never thought to ask if anything more than his heartrate increasing would carry over.

He felt a chill pass through him from the cold floor up his bare feet and shins and he crossed his arms over his chest like that would help him hold in the heat of his body. He shifted position, sitting down on the floor cross-legged and bent at the waist to lean forward to curl further into himself.

“What do I do?” he whispered, hoping that he couldn’t be heard through the barrier.


	13. Risk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They tried to keep Yuuri safe but...

Shion had the sensation of being stuck. He didn’t feel like that very often anymore so it actually took him a few moments to identify it for what it was. But once he did, he became confused because he couldn’t think of a reason for experiencing that now.

He was also just generally unsettled. That was more common for him so it didn’t catch his attention. After all, he was constantly wary of his state of mind, his vigilance required for the sake of maintaining his mental health against the potential deterioration his four cores could and had previously caused him. And besides that was his maintenance of the layer of Dispel discharge he kept around him at all times as a last defense, though that focus was about keeping the barrier minimal instead of spreading out a few meters around him like his core preferred.

Shion’s core power defied the norms and he paid for it in ways no one but Nezumi would ever know.

Thinking of Nezumi caused that unsettled feeling to spike as he realized that he couldn’t feel his affinity partner nearby. Their connection was there but it was like they were far apart again, like when Shion had been in Russia while Nezumi had went to Japan.

Shion hadn’t liked the separation then either.

And they weren’t supposed to be separated now. They’d gone to bed together and Nezumi didn’t leave the room while Shion was asleep without telling Shion through his Siren core that he wasn’t going far and that he’d be right back. And he used his Siren core so that Shion would perceive the message through their connection even while asleep and he wouldn’t wake up worried.

Things like that was why Shion got reasonably decent sleep these days, because Nezumi had figured out how to help him and be of comfort even when he was asleep.

But not now and he was panicking for not knowing what had gone wrong. His Clairvoyance was useless with his eyes closed and his Dispel layer was intact and calm so it hadn’t been tripped. His usual defenses said nothing was wrong but he just knew that wasn’t true.

Well, besides his unease, he figured not being able to immediately be awake was a good enough warning on its own.

He had a few more options but he decided to go with the one that would be most likely to give him some answers rather than inhibit anyone around him.

He activated his Mirror core, feeling out any cores around him that he could copy.

He had about a dozen options, most of them familiar to what he’d been around for the past few weeks, including the extremely familiar Siren and Qilin cores of his affinity partner. That meant he was still in his bed with Nezumi right next to him where he should be.

Then that meant…

…Damn, they’d been trying to avoid this happening again. He and Wataru had hoped that teaching Yuuri the basics of controlling his cores would be enough to protect him but apparently they’d been wrong.

Though this was different than Shion remembered from before, from when Yuuri had allowed them to witness a discussion between Hajime and an ally of his. Shion remembered seeing and hearing things clearly. There had been gaps, which he had learned later was because of Yuuri being connected to both he and Wataru and so some things had been witnessed more clearly by Wataru instead. Then, it had all come down to Yuuri’s lack of control.

Was how he experienced now a result of Yuuri gaining control?

Regardless, he already knew how to work loose of the connection. He’d figured that part out the second day when he was working past the basics of the disposition. It was easy enough.

He sent out a short burst of discharge from all four of his cores through the affinity between himself and Nezumi, knowing his partner would feel it and recognize it as the alert it was. Nezumi was always on guard when it came to what he felt from Shion through their affinity.

Shion took the few moments he figured he’d have to try and see if he could pick up any sights or sounds but perceived nothing. It was like he was just in some empty room but with even less to take in.

He was struck with the sensation of being closed off, of everything around him closing in to surround him just beyond his layer of Dispel protection, and then that feeling passed through that and through him.

Shion gasped as he sat upright in his bed, Nezumi backing away so they didn’t collide from the sudden motion. Shion took a few more deep breaths, his heartrate elevated but he’d been expecting that. After all, with Nezumi passing a Qilin barrier through his body to cancel out all active core discharge, including Shion’s own, the interruption made the body panic.

Nezumi reached up and combed his fingers through Shion’s hair, before cupping the back of his head and leaning in to kiss his cheek where the scarring extended under his left eye. “Are you sure that doesn’t hurt?” he asked, sounding amused to cover his concern.

Shion rested his hand over Nezumi’s forearm, giving his partner a comforting squeeze even as he took in one more calming breath before answering. “No, it doesn’t hurt. I would tell you if it did.” Shion had learned not to hide things like that from Nezumi: he found out anyway and it wasn’t healthy for them.

“You better,” Nezumi muttered against his temple. “What happened? Yuuri again?”

“I believe so, except it wasn’t like when it happened before. I didn’t actually see anything. There was just nothing around me.”

“Might be why it didn’t catch my attention as much as last time. I was waking up, felt something was off, but it wasn’t anywhere near the warning I had before.”

“I’m curious as to why there was any difference.”

Nezumi was about to respond when there was a knock at their door, quiet but insistent. Nezumi pulled away and gave the door a glare before allowing the frustration of their privacy being interrupted and stood, Shion turning to sit on the edge of the bed but keeping back as Nezumi preferred before he cleared the visitor.

It was Victor, the Russian standing in the hall outside their door looking awkward, anxious, and confused. Not really any of those were things they were used to seeing from the man and so Shion was immediately on alert and he stood and crossed the room to stand next to Nezumi as he asked, “What’s wrong, Victor?”

“Something’s wrong with Yuuri. I can’t get him to wake up,” Victor admitted, his voice low, possibly so it didn’t carry to anyone else in any nearby rooms.

Shion glanced to the clock on the bedside table, seeing it wasn’t even midnight. Yuuri had mentioned in passing that he didn’t usually go to bed early, that he was sort of a night owl. Not normally an insomniac – like Shion tended to be – but it did take him some time to slow his brain down to be able to fall asleep.

“Why did you try to wake him up?”

“I was with him and we fell asleep alright but then his breathing started getting erratic and his heart was beating so fast. I thought he was having a panic attack and it woke me up. But when I tried to wake him up, he wouldn’t move. It’s exactly like when he’s projecting but he won’t respond to anything. When we’ve been training with him, he would always respond when we interrupted him.”

“And you’re sure he didn’t project on purpose?” Shion had to ask.

“I don’t think he did. He had no reason to and he didn’t indicate that he was going to try. I fell asleep before him.”

Shion got the feeling that something was really wrong. And he’d long ago learned to trust his instincts after Nezumi hammered the point into him after the Devas had only sort of succeeded in doing so.

Shion turned toward Nezumi, the two exchanging a look that said they were on the same page in believing this wasn’t something to just be dismissed.

“Want me to get Wataru?” Nezumi asked.

“Not yet. I’d like to check on him first. It may be as simple to solve as how you woke me up,” Shion said as he walked through the door, Victor turning to lead the way down the hall toward Yuuri’s room.

As soon as Shion saw Yuuri, he was even more certain that there was something to be concerned about. It looked like Yuuri was sleeping, just as it always had when he was projecting, but his expression was pinched and stressed, his breathing erratic, his skin pale, and there was a thin layer of sweat breaking out on his forehead.

Shion was tapping into his Clairvoyant core even as he approached, blinking a few times quickly to make sure his vision was clear. He kneeled on the edge of the bed as he looked Yuuri over, taking in how his power was flowing and being used. “His Ghost core is active alongside his Empathy core. I’m actually having difficulty distinguishing between the two.”

“But you already knew about that part,” Nezumi replied. “It’s how you missed him having an uncentered core to begin with. And it’s done that when we’ve been working with him.”

“Yes, that isn’t unusual. It’s just…still somewhat unusual to see someone’s cores so naturally inclined to work together like his do.”

“Shion,” Nezumi prompted him, a reminder to focus.

“Besides the signs of distress, I don’t see anything different than anytime we’ve worked with him. Whatever it is, it isn’t on this end of the projection.”

“Projections can be affected?”

“As much as any core discharge can be.”

There was a pause and then Nezumi placed his hand on Shion’s shoulder and said in a flat tone, “That’s quite a bit.”

Shion thought it over and amended, “If they know it’s there and what exactly the discharge means. People don’t tend to default thinking the discharge they feel or see is a Ghost’s projection, not with how rare the disposition is.”

Nezumi shifted his hand to cover the back of Shion’s neck, the touch familiar and comforting and that always helped his mind slow down a little, made it easier to figure things out. Nezumi was good at helping him slow down and pick out what was important in the mess of information he always had in his head.

“Could Hajime interact with a projection?” Nezumi asked and Shion almost answered automatically but then paused to think it over.

“No, not on his own as far as I know of his disposition. He was only a Sidhe. However, the connections he’s proven himself to have may make that moot.”

“You and Wataru said he knew there was something there when Yuuri connected with you before. What would be the easiest way to take preventative measures against something he couldn’t identify happening again?”

This time the answer was automatic, Nezumi’s tone on the more insistent side which made Shion more inclined to speak quickly. “Emblems from a Glyph. They’re versatile enough and can be designed to be activated without the Glyph present.”

“Is that what’s wrong with Yuuri now?” Victor asked, sounding more focused now than he’d been when he’d gone to their room.

“I don’t know. I didn’t see or hear anything like I had before. I have no idea what Yuuri is seeing, where he is, and if he’s even connected to Hajime. I’ve met a lot of Oni over the years I’ve been active with enforcement agencies. I wouldn’t assume he’s happened to be connected with the one we hold the most concern over. And without knowing exactly what his situation is, I’m not comfortable forcing him awake like I had Nezumi do to me.”

“Well, did Wataru get dragged along like he did before?” Victor pressed his questioning as Shion turned to sit facing toward Victor so he could observe the man’s reactions.

“I don’t know. Even if it was me and Wataru projecting, the ability to perceive other projections is a conscious command made of the core. Yuuri would have had to activated it prior to projecting. But he’s also the only one projecting. His Empathy connects him to us and us to him and his Reaper core’s ability to enhance perception kicks in and allows the ones he’s connected to the ability to experience what he does. We aren’t actually a Ghost projection like him when we see or hear what he does.” Nezumi squeezed at Shion’s neck and he caught himself from rambling further. Shion pinched the bridge of his nose before reaching back to pull at the hair behind his ear, usually a nervous habit but this time it was a show of frustration. “Anything I can think of to do isn’t something I’d be comfortable pursuing with how little information we have. Yuuri not waking up from stimuli to his body is the most concerning: it’s a Ghost failsafe that the user can always be naturally woken up. Yes, they will always sleep deeper than normal but they will never reach the point where they simply can’t be pulled out of the projection.”

Nezumi leaned in close to speak to Shion in a low tone. “I think it’s time we got Wataru in here. He might have more experience with Glyphs since you sounded pretty certain about that. You’ve only known one and you did your best to keep your distance from him so it’s not in your repertoire of Mirrored cores.”

The Glyph Shion had known had been another Deva he’d worked with sparingly. And then Shion had become a Chimera and had no longer been eligible to be a Deva and then had a fourth core awaken and had put a conscious effort into avoiding anyone he’d worked with as a Deva so that meant someone he hadn’t really been close to initially went further to the wayside.

Shion was about to stand and head to Wataru’s room when there was a gentle single knock on the door similar to how Victor had knocked on their door. Nezumi stepped past Victor and slid the door open a crack and then let out a short chuckle as he opened the door the rest of the way to reveal Wataru and Yuichi.

“We were just talking about you,” he muttered, Wataru glancing over to him briefly before he stepped to where he could see Yuuri. He then focused on Shion.

“It’s a Glyph emblem, marked into the floor,” he announced. “I couldn’t pick up any details of the emblem and can’t guarantee that I’d remember them even if I did. I’m not good with stuff like that.”

“How did you wake up?” Shion asked, curiosity getting in the way though the answer could have some valuable information.

But Wataru looked confused. “I just woke up. It’s not like I’m trapped there or anything, especially since I knew what it was this time. Why, can’t you?”

Shion shook his head. “Nezumi has to help me.”

Wataru seemed to consider it for a moment before he shook his head and shrugged. “Figure it out later. The emblem is trapping Yuuri’s projection, might have even lured it to the trap once he was close enough, and it doesn’t let him see out of it clearly. He might be able to hear things we can’t with us being along for the ride and not actual projections.”

“You saw the emblem, though. I didn’t.”

“Did you think to look down for an emblem?”

Shion hesitated in answering, recalling what he’d witnessed, and then flushed as he realized the answer. “No. No, I didn’t. I was concerned about what was happening, why it was different.”

“There’s a Glyph at the division I work out of. He’s got emblems spread throughout the building. I’m used to looking for them even if I have no idea what they all do. And with Yuuri getting better about his control, there was no reason for there to be a decrease in his accidental projections.” He took a moment before the look he gave Shion took on a hint of amusement. “Weird that I picked up more than you in this.”

Shion knew he was blushing but Nezumi spoke before he could defend himself. “He’s got good reasons for not operating so well while asleep,” he said vaguely.

Wataru accepted that easily enough and moved on. “Since it was both of us, we can assume it was Hajime he tapped into again. That’s the only Oni we have in common.”

Shion’s mind was starting to race. “So, he figured out what he’d felt last time or made an educated enough guess to take preventative measures and laid a Glyph emblem down to trap Yuuri there. And with the projection unable to return, the ability can’t return to dormancy and so Yuuri can’t wake up.”

“Then what can we do to help Yuuri?” Victor asked, stepping between the agent and the Deva, his voice conveying his aggravation. Shion didn’t blame him as it could seem like the two of them were being quite apathetic about it all. But Shion was just someone who needed to work through as many details as he quickly could right away and Wataru tended to become difficult to get a read on when he got into the mindset he needed to when it came to working like this. However, aside from how they knew they were responsible for Yuuri even being able to project around Hajime, they both cared about Yuuri and wanted to help him.

Regardless of their responsibility in the current circumstances, this was their job.

“Could we get some more information so we aren’t flying so blind?” Yuichi asked from where he was standing just inside the door.

Shion thought over his options, already having worked through a few possibilities and dismissing some. After all, this was the part he was good at: quickly figuring out how to approach a situation. Others would come to the same conclusions as he would, but he would get there faster. It was one of the reasons he’d succeeded as a Deva even while so young having become one.

He focused on Wataru. “How close are you to Asaka Masanobu?” he asked, getting a confused look from Wataru and an irritated one from Yuichi.

“You know Asaka?” Wataru asked instead.

“You mentioned a Glyph at the division you worked at. I assumed it was Asaka still being assigned there. Remember, I did work at the same division as you while I was a Deva.”

Wataru nodded absently. “Um, he’s been involved with some of my training and I was assigned to a few missions with him before I was given my current placement. But it’s not like I can get close to too many people, especially Devas, with what I’m hiding.”

“I want you to try and get a hold of him, see if you can get any more information about what can be worked into an emblem that can restrain a Ghost’s projection.”

“That’s not something that can casually get worked into conversation in the middle of the night. He’ll have no reason to think anything except that being the exact situation we’re in. And I’m not supposed to be dealing with Oni in my position and at my rank.”

Shion thought it over for a few seconds. “He knows me. And if he looked into it, he’d see I’m here with you. Tell him you’re asking on my behalf since I don’t have his contact information. You can even add that I didn’t feel comfortable contacting him after so long without speaking with him and he’s the only Glyph I know. That should be acceptable enough to get some answers.”

Wataru looked like he was going to object but Yuichi stepped forward and took hold of Wataru’s elbow. The Deva looked over his shoulder at his partner for a moment, seeming ready to protest but it passed immediately when he looked at Yuichi. Shion was familiar with the feeling. There were just times when he saw what he needed to in his partner’s expression to understand. “What are you gonna do?” he asked instead, the question directed at Shion even if he didn’t look back toward him.

“I’ll watch over Yuuri, look for any changes in his condition or see if I can find anything that’ll help us help him. I didn’t look as closely as I can through my Clairvoyance and I’ll rectify that now.”

Shion ignored the frown from Nezumi as his partner crossed his arms to indicate he’d caught the lie. Shion was surprised it had come out as smoothly as it did: he generally was a horrible liar. But he didn’t want to give away secrets if he didn’t have to. It wasn’t his secret to tell.

Wataru nodded easily enough and turned to leave again with Yuichi following behind, his phone likely back in his room. Nezumi gave him a questioning look, asking silently if Shion wanted him to leave as well. Shion shook his head briefly enough, covering the motion by looking back toward Yuuri briefly, confirming that there was absolutely nothing different with his status.

That left Victor in the room with them, the man looking anxious but managing to keep a tight lid on his emotions, Shion recognizing how being a top performer and competitor was shining through in the man’s control. Sure, Victor was a naturally confident and charismatic man in a way Yuuri wasn’t but Shion had watched plenty of people with similar traits fall apart completely when faced with the danger of an Oni being directed at a loved one.

“Victor?” Shion began, trying to sound confident himself but his own concern about what he was going to ask was already getting in the way. “You want to help Yuuri, right?”

Victor looked briefly irritated before he regained control. “Of course I want to help Yuuri. I didn’t want him getting involved with you in the first place for this very reason.”

“I understand that. I want you to know we didn’t want him being exposed to Hajime either. The less people that get involved with him, the better. But the situation is as it is now and we can only respond. I’m going to ask you something I’m sure you won’t be pleased with.”

“Fine. As long as it means helping Yuuri.”

“Is your core sealed because of the requirements for skating competitively or are you free to have the seal removed at any time?”

Shion expected the shock to delay the answer from Victor and he glanced over the Russian’s shoulder to his partner. Nezumi was doing a good job of restraining his own surprise at the revelation that Victor was a sealed user. But he also may have suspected that already: Nezumi had incredible instincts when it came to figuring out that people were hiding something and he was good at reading people. So while he may not have known with one hundred percent accuracy, he could have been close to figuring it out on his own. And because it was Nezumi, no matter what he’d figured out, he would have never brought it up unless it directly affected himself or Shion. It just wasn’t in his nature to feel the urge to learn about others besides Shion.

“How did you know? Sealed cores aren’t supposed to show up like unsealed ones.” Victor asked in a strained voice.

“They don’t. The seal mutes their appearance significantly. But my Clairvoyant core was the first one I had awaken and I spent many years working with it solely. My sight is keen when active. It took me a few days simply because I was so focused on Yuuri but it was obvious once I looked at you while my vision was affected.”

“There shouldn’t have been a delay, Shion. How many times do I have to tell you?” Nezumi chastised in a low voice, frustrated but obviously not going for a full interruption, merely indicating that they would be discussing it further after everything was settled here.

Victor let out a sigh and reached up to pinch at the bridge of his nose, not something they saw him do often at all. “No, I’m not sealed because of competition requirements. It’s partially my choice and partially honoring an agreement.”

“With the Devas?” Shion took an educated guess based off of Victor’s behavior toward Wataru as a Deva.

“Yes.” And that was all he said with no indication that he intended to elaborate on anything unless asked.

Nezumi spoke up then, “What’s your disposition? Devas don’t usually go around asking random civilians to seal up. A few more policies go through and it’ll be against the law for them to do so.”

“It wasn’t like that. They didn’t randomly target me for any reason.” Victor hesitated then, Shion figuring he was working out what to reveal or how to say it.

Considering what Shion’s own experience with the Devas was, he went through what he knew of how they handled and interacted with civilians, what could possibly have been behind them requesting Victor to remain sealed. He came to the likely reason quickly enough. “You enrolled in a training course with them but were refused becoming a Deva, likely because of age if they still completed training you. With it being centered in the right hemisphere of your brain, that leaves many options that they would be willing to work with you like that on.”

“It’s a Telepath,” Victor declared, then took in a breath and seemed to regain some control. “I was five when it awakened and quickly got to the point that I couldn’t leave my room because of everything I was picking up.”

Shion frowned at that indicator of just how strong Victor’s core was. Telepathy was supposed to be solely communication. Picking up thoughts, like how Yuuri picked up emotions, was the abilities of Readers. But Telepaths created temporary connections between people to communicate through. It was all very intentional. For it to be happening accidentally to Victor when the core awakened meant that either it had awakened at a high level of power than usual or that his mindset had been unstable at the time. What Shion knew of Telepaths and the impression he got from Victor now gave him the feeling it was both.

As Victor was now, he seemed to be open and friendly to everyone. He had a good image with his fans, people flocked toward him for various reasons, and he handled it all well in stride. But there were plenty of instances that Shion had seen beyond his public image, likely because they mostly saw Victor in a setting more private in nature. They also mostly saw Victor around Yuuri and he was always…warmer around Yuuri. Victor cared so deeply for Yuuri that it was almost insufficient to say that they loved each other.

But that’s exactly what Shion was relying on in bringing this all up to begin with.

If the affinity between Nezumi and himself could form as it did when they had both been fighting it from happening, the base connection happening in a matter of seconds for the sake of saving them both, then it was possible that it could happen here. And with the suspected strength of Victor’s core suddenly being released from the seal and the nature of Yuuri’s dispositions, it was an easy assumption to make that they could reach for each other immediately even with Yuuri’s cores active as they were now.

Though Victor’s disposition did give them another option in how to handle this without relying on the sometimes hard to predict nature of affinities.

“I see,” Shion remarked, trying to keep his mind from getting too far ahead of the conversation since Victor could still refuse. “Yes, the Devas would see that as a situation where you needed to undergo training. But there’s no way they would take on a child of that age to complete two years of service as a Deva. I’ve heard of them making exceptions like that with increasing regularity. Did they suggest becoming sealed as an alternative to training?”

“No, they never indicated that I shouldn’t learn how to control my abilities. But they did think that it would be safest even after learning that I should be sealed until I was at least thirteen. They thought by then I would have a generally easier time with passive control.”

“Not to mention it is generally discouraged for a core to be sealed during the teenage years because of the developments of the body and brain,” Shion mused before refocusing himself. “Did you remove the seal then?”

“For about a year. I still maintained control well enough but decided that I had no interest in having access to my abilities, so I had the seal reactivated and have kept sealed ever since.”

“Who performs your seal recharge? Is it still the Devas?” Most seals only lasted about a year before they had to have someone come and restore the charge on them.

“Yes, though the one who does it is retired from them now. They specialize in long-term seals without going the route of tattooing marks all over the person. I return for a recharge every five years.”

It had been a Qilin then, especially since Ouroboros weren’t generally called in for standard seal maintenance like this. It wasn’t necessarily uncommon anymore for Qilins to develop the ability to create longer lasting seals, it actually close to being able to be offered to civilians as a standard option for when they wanted to be sealed.

Nezumi hadn’t even tried so they didn’t know if that was something he could do. They might have to give it a try once they finished up here. But that also meant that he wouldn’t be able to remove the seal. And Shion would have to Mirror a Qilin core of someone who had that ability to be able to do it himself. Which meant they would have to rely on Wataru to remove the seal. After all, as an Ouroboros, Wataru could affect any seal’s influence on a core, even ones that were tattooed on. And even if he was still figuring the details out, Shion could remove some seals so he might be able to do it himself.

Victor appeared to have recovered enough to consider why Shion was asking about his sealed core as he gave the agent a suspicious look. “What does my core have to do with what’s happening with Yuuri?”

Shion glanced at Nezumi, who interpreted the look easily and moved to stand closer to Shion, ready to position himself between Shion and Victor. The Russian acknowledged the shift and his body language changed, relaxing a bit. He recognized that out of all of them, including Yuichi as a Paladin and so having heightened fighting capability and instincts, Nezumi was the one most inclined to fight.

“I hope you understand that I wouldn’t ask anyone to go against something they choose for nothing. You have every right to choose to be sealed and expect that choice to be respected. But I’m still asking you to consider removing your seal.”

“And why would you ask me to do that? How would that help Yuuri?”

Shion hadn’t expected Victor to immediately focus on what this had to do with helping Yuuri. He’d honestly expected him to simply refuse instead of gathering more information to begin with.

Well, Shion never claimed to be the best at reading people or anticipating their reactions accurately. That’s why he was lucky in the person he loved being better at it than him.

“You love Yuuri, right?” Shion asked, then had to fight a blush at asking something extremely private so bluntly.

Victor didn’t hesitate, though, responding immediately like it was the most natural thing to do with a curt, “Yes.”

“I believe unsealing your core will allow his to reach out for you and that will help his situation greatly.”

It only took a few seconds for Victor to read between the lines there. It wasn’t like there were too many things Shion _could_ have meant with that. “You think simply unsealing my core will make an affinity form? It doesn’t happen that quickly.”

“It can, especially if there is a risk to one of the people it’s forming between. There is also the factor that your core being one you are trained to work with. That means it is well connected to you. Furthermore, Yuuri’s cores, being ones based strongly off intuition would pick up on that and react stronger than they would if yours was a newly awakened core. And your core would respond in kind, with years of sealed discharge reaching back to him because of your love, care, and concern for Yuuri and it may be enough to take hold and solidify into the foundation of an affinity. It would be tenuous but still an active affinity. And because affinities change the output of our cores, it may alter his Ghost core enough that the emblem is cancelled out and he is freed to return.”

“Sounds like a lot of baseless ideas parading as a plan.”

Nezumi smirked. “Don’t worry, that’s how most of what he comes up with sounds. It’s not the case, though. He’s pulling from more knowledge about and experience with cores, dispositions, and affinities than anyone could ever imagine.”

“Even if an affinity forming doesn’t pull him from the trap, it will still ensure that he doesn’t run out of power as quickly, giving us a chance to break him out.”

“What do you mean?”

“From my experience with Glyph emblems, it is likely his own discharge from his projection that is keeping the mark active and him trapped. Once his core is out of power, his projection will fail. But projections can’t operate without something to indicate where it is supposed to return to. With no power to guide him back, Yuuri could simply not wake up. If he was connected with you, there would be something there guaranteed to guide the aspect of his consciousness that goes with the projection back to where it belongs. It’s a guarantee that Yuuri will be able to wake up, no matter what we do to try to free him.”

Victor remained silent for a short time, Shion letting him think it over. He was, after all, asking him to do much more than simply not be sealed anymore.

Because as long as he had an active affinity with someone, Victor wouldn’t be allowed to reactivate the seal.

Besides that, despite that affinities could only form through shared genuine love, since Yuuri didn’t know Victor was a user, they were officially forcing an affinity onto Yuuri and while that deeply bothered Shion, he had to at least give the options that would have the highest likelihood of success in helping Yuuri.

Nezumi stepped a little closer to Victor, talking in a low voice that might have been private if they weren’t in such a small space. “An affinity formed quickly isn’t stable for a while. A few days away from each other so they couldn’t continue to form a solid connection is enough for it to dissolve and then you can be sealed again.” Victor gave him a startled look, to which Nezumi just shrugged and stepped away. “Just so you know you aren’t losing your option to be sealed back up tight.” He glanced over his shoulder to Shion before continuing. “It’s not the ideal way for an affinity to form, just like a core forming and awakening because of a dangerous situation means a hell of a struggle learning control once the danger’s passed. Affinities are best formed over time and so that’s what people are told to expect from them. You’ll both have to put work into the connection that should have happened before it formed but it doesn’t make it any less of a genuine bond between you. Trust me on this; after all, the affinity between me and Shion is just fine now.”

Victor picked up on the implication immediately again and he gave Shion a questioning look and he nodded agreement that Nezumi was telling the truth.

“It’s not ideal but that doesn’t make it any less real. It doesn’t change that the affinity would be forming from the love you have for each other. We’ll allow you a few minutes to think it over. I understand it isn’t an easy decision to make. We’ll go check in with Wataru, see if he was able to get a hold of Asaka and learn more about the emblem being used.”

Shion walked past Victor, Nezumi falling in step beside him. He’d just started to slide the door open when Victor turned and grabbed hold of Shion’s elbow. Nezumi tensed at the action but managed to keep it at that. Shion looked over his shoulder to Victor, letting the Russian break the silence.

“I’ll do whatever Yuuri needs for me to help him. Remove the seal.”


	14. Echo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shion searches and Yuuri listens...

Wataru and Yuichi rejoined them about ten minutes later, the Deva letting out a weary sigh as he closed the door behind them. They were lucky that Yuuri’s room was so tucked away in a corner of the onsen that they had managed to keep from disturbing any of his family or other patrons. And Shion wasn’t used to having to keep an emergency like this so quiet from literally anyone who wasn’t in the room with them.

“Were you able to get in contact with Asaka?” Shion asked, anxious for information. They owed being able to help Yuuri for being the reason he was in danger to begin with.

“Yeah, we lucked out and he was working late wrapping up a report for an assignment. It also meant he wasn’t as sharp as he’d normally be and was pretty automatic in giving answers.”

“I expect he’ll realize he has concerns about what exactly we were asking him about by the time we get back,” Yuichi added. “You owe us for this one.”

Shion got the feeling that wasn’t necessarily a notion shared between the partners as Wataru looked a little irritated that Yuichi had said anything.

That likely meant that Wataru got along better with Asaka than Yuichi did. Shion recognized that from how Nezumi would give certain other agents a hard time even as Shion couldn’t understand why.

“What did you learn?” Shion asked, trying to keep them on track as there was currently a concern of how long Yuuri was trapped.

“Apparently, a Glyph emblem being designed to trap a Ghost projection is easy work. Like, ridiculously easy simply because a projection is pure core discharge. And even a poorly designed emblem can hold a projection for a few hours on the power given off by it alone. Asaka figures there was a lure worked into the emblem so if a projection materialized within a certain radius, it would automatically be drawn in before it even took form so the Ghost wouldn’t be able to figure out what was happening and back out before being trapped."

“What sort of radius are we talking about?”

“That’s where the skill of the Glyph would come into play. He said a safe estimation would be a fifty-meter spherical radius. But he did say that if they were using a lure factor, it would have to be specified to when a projection would be forming. So, if a Ghost projected outside that radius, they could move closer and not be drawn in. They would be able to move freely without worrying about being caught.”

“That sort of trap sounds right for Hajime,” Yuichi noted and Nezumi gave a hum of agreement. “He could be using the time to figure out who the Ghost is.”

“Yeah, Asaka mentioned that any emblems the Glyph could use to expose any aspect of the Ghost projection couldn’t be worked into the trap. The Glyph would have to be there actively interpreting what they worked out. I described as much as I could about what we saw and he’s sure it was just a trap with sensory inhibiting aspects. He seemed confused that I mentioned a complete lack of seeing beyond the trap so I figure Yuuri can maybe see or hear more than we could but we couldn’t since we were just along for the ride. Knowing Hajime and based off of the stress Yuuri’s body is showing, Yuuri can likely hear what’s going on outside the emblem.”

Nezumi leaned a bit closer to Victor and said in a low voice, “Hajime likes to talk, uses it for intimidation.”

“Please tell me that’s enough to get us started in a direction to getting Yuuri out of this without painting a target on him for Hajime to keep an eye on,” Wataru continued, indicating that was all he got from Asaka. Or at least all he thought was useful to their situation.

“Yes, that helps a lot. Thank you for doing that, Wataru.”

“So what are we going to do?” Yuichi asked when Shion hesitated a bit in continuing. “We have no way of knowing where he projected to and he already proved that he isn’t really limited on range of projecting. And we haven’t had a fix on Hajime’s location for about a year now so we can’t even give an estimate.”

“I have our method of figuring out where he is and possibly how we will free him.”

Shion realized he was strangely anxious about revealing the details of his plan. It wasn’t even the most reckless thing he’d done, not by a wide margin. But he simply didn’t want to have to argue his reasoning and he wasn’t sure if Wataru and Yuichi would or not. At least if it was just Nezumi, he pointed out what was absentminded about Shion’s ideas but would let him figure things out on his own. He never had to prove himself to Nezumi but that didn’t apply to others who didn’t know him so intimately. He realized he’d begun taking for granted not having to explain how he came to the conclusions he did to others and he just didn’t want to have to do that now, not when there was some factor of a time constraint, even if it wasn’t yet immediate.

“Shion, just tell us,” Nezumi prompted shortly. Even he was apparently becoming impatient with Shion’s evasiveness, likely because it had been a long time since he’d been on its receiving end.

Shion let out a deep sigh as he looked back toward Yuuri, the young man still showing the same signs of distress even if he’d seemed to calm down a little. He was obviously doing what he could on his end to remain in control of himself even as he had every reason to be worried, even panicked.

“I Mirror his Ghost core, project to where he is, maybe get all the details we need on the emblem, figure out where he is, and if we’re close enough we launch an offensive against the place and free Yuuri.”

He was met with silence and he didn’t need to be an Empath to know no one liked what he’d come up with as their first plan of action. Even Victor didn’t seem eager to enact any part of that and he’d just be remaining with Yuuri.

“What fight have we won against Hajime that makes you think a blatant assault is the best option?” Nezumi asked, his tone short and strained. “He can’t know you’re alive.”

“And the only reason he retreated when he attacked Wataru and I last year is because Devas showed up,” Yuichi added. “Just because Wataru actually knows what to do with his Esper core now doesn’t mean he automatically stands a chance in a fight against Hajime. The guy may not be a Paladin, but he’s as good as one in a fight while being even more ruthless.”

“He won’t be expecting us. His focus will be on Yuuri and he won’t be on the offensive with allies he arranged specifically to fight us. We don’t need to win against him, we just need to make him retreat enough for us to free Yuuri’s projection. All that requires is a disturbance of the emblem.”

“And if he isn’t reasonably close?” Wataru asked, sounding more like he was gathering information than denying Shion’s plan like the others had. It wasn’t too surprising, though: while he was naturally impulsive, Wataru had put a lot of work into slowing down and working things out, especially as it applied to his position as a Deva.

“I have my own call I can make if that’s the case.” He just wasn’t sure if his mom would agree to it or if he’d have to switch up the plan based on what she was willing to go along with. It really could go either way with her in this situation. “Locating Yuuri is our first priority. So much of what we do is based on that so the sooner we get that out of the way, the better.”

“Are you sure you have enough skill with the disposition to do that?” Victor asked. “You know you can project to his projection and form far enough away that you don’t also become trapped?”

“Even if I do become trapped, I’m not a Ghost. I’m a Mirror. All I need to do is change the disposition I’m Mirroring and the discharge will alter and be recalled. The emblem was designed to trap a Ghost, not anything else.” Shion gave a questioning look to Wataru just to make sure, who nodded agreement.

Nezumi spoke up then. “Just because he’s keying in on a projection doesn’t actually change how he’s controlling where he projects to. If it was the other way around and he was trapped, Yuuri could do the exact same thing even with his limited experience with controlling his abilities. That’s not actually the hard part with all this.”

“What is the hard part, then?” Victor pressed. Yuuri wondered if he was starting to feel anxious about the seal being removed.

“Basically everything besides that step,” Nezumi answered smoothly. He was working through everything in his own way, figuring out what he’d actually have to be on alert about. He didn’t agree with what he’d heard from Shion but he was keeping his actual objections to himself, never wanting to expose what he considered a weakness: them not agreeing.

Shion figured he’d be hearing all of it later when it was just the two of them.

“There’s also one more step we’re going to take to increase Yuuri’s safety and ensure his return is finished smoothly. Though I will need your help to carry it out, Wataru.”

“Such as?” Wataru pressed and Yuichi took another step closer to his partner, the act as likely defensive as it was subconscious.

“I need you to remove the seal in place around Victor’s Telepath core.”

Wataru gave Victor a surprised look, confirming that he’d had no idea that Victor was a sealed user. Shion was a little disappointed as Wataru was supposed to be able to see cores to some degree because of his Ouroboros core. Sure, he didn’t know how sensitive Wataru’s vision was, but he’d thought the Deva would have at least picked up a hint of Victor’s core.

Wataru recovered quickly, shaking his head briefly before his expression became suspicious. He asked Victor, “Did you agree to this?”

“Of course I agreed. He explained how he knew and why he wanted the seal removed. I’ll do anything I can to help Yuuri.”

Wataru gave Shion a flat look before turning back to Victor. “You’ve never had an affinity before, have you?”

Shion was actually surprised that he hadn’t needed to explain that part. But Wataru proved that he’d paid attention to the research Shion was submitting to the U.E.A. on the matter. Well, affinities had always been Wataru’s favorite aspect of cores. It was the only part he enjoyed about being a user, the connection he had with Yuichi.

“No, I haven’t,” Victor answered, nonplussed. “That’s why I could be sealed.”

“Whatever you’re expecting it to be, however you think you’re going to handle it, you’re wrong. And I’ve watched how you are with Yuuri; you won’t want to give that up once you have it. He’s not nearly so secure in his feelings for you and he may not be on the same page as you about it.”

Victor thought over what Wataru said, which Shion considered a point in his favor. He really was taking this seriously and wasn’t dismissing this challenge.

“I trust Yuuri and I trust that I know him well enough that we’ll be able to work out what we both want once he’s safe.”

Shion envied Victor’s confidence in the relationship between him and Yuuri. Shion had known Nezumi for about seven years now and had an affinity with him for about three years and there were still those moments where he just didn’t know what Nezumi was thinking. And while he never doubted the love he had for Nezumi, he did doubt the strength of their relationship. They were such different people and there were times when they communicated so differently that it felt like it was the world telling them they weren’t for each other. He hated that he had those doubts and he did everything he could to get over them quickly, mainly before Nezumi noticed, but he still had them. But here was this man who was showing complete confidence in a relationship that Shion suspected was barely into an intimate nature. He truly had the level of confidence that he spoke with and Shion wanted that.

Wataru seemed to be working through his own feelings of what Victor had said until he nodded acceptance before glancing over to Shion and muttering, “Consider yourself lucky that my first thought wasn’t to pretend I didn’t have that ability. I know that an Ouroboros removing a seal is the easiest of the options we have to us now. How are we going to do this?”

Shion stepped to the side towards Nezumi and extended his arm in invitation toward Victor, indicating he move to the bed. “Victor, you should get comfortable but the closer you are to Yuuri, the better for your cores to reach for each other once the seal is removed. Wataru, wait until I’ve Mirrored his core before you remove the seal. It will be easier to distinguish the correct core when it’s the one primarily active and isn’t blending its discharge with Victor's. Nezumi, are you ready?”

“Yeah.”

“For what?” Wataru asked.

“I project better while remaining upright with Nezumi supporting me.” That had been a random thought while Shion had been experimenting that he’d never expected to pan out. But his cores had always responded strongly to Nezumi’s proximity. “He also needs to be ready to pull me out if I make a mistake. Yuichi, I need you to be on alert for any spikes in danger toward me and Yuuri. If you feel even the slightest bit of a risk to either of us, please tell Nezumi and he’ll pull me out.”

Yuichi nodded understanding and Shion looked away just as the Paladin’s core flared to activity as he accessed his ability to sense danger. That would be much more reliable than Shion only having his own projected senses.

“Whether or not I get it right the first time, I’m projecting for two minutes. That should give me enough time to reach Yuuri and figure out where they are.”

“Why not just have Nezumi pull you out if you mess up?” Wataru asked.

“He pulls me out by disrupting the discharge of all my cores. It would cancel out my Mirror and I would have to reactivate copying Yuuri’s Ghost core, which will be interacting with Victor’s core and so will be more difficult. I’ll give up the time to ensure the Mirror I have isn’t one I had to search through a forming affinity to acquire. Two minutes is plenty of time for a projection to search an area and I have enough power that I can project for two-minute spans thirteen times.”

“Let’s not take that many times to get it right, okay?” Nezumi said as he stepped up to Shion’s back and his arms wrapped securely around Shion’s waist, pulling him against his solid chest so that when he projected, Nezumi was ready to comfortably take his weight. They’d gotten used to this when Shion was experimenting with the disposition over the past few days so he wasn’t concerned. Besides, Nezumi supported his weight quite often and it was familiar to both of them.

He took a careful look at Yuuri with his Clairvoyant core active to look at core discharge, immediately focusing on the glow of power coming from Yuuri’s chest around his heart. He made sure that the only active core he was focusing on was the Ghost core so he didn’t accidentally Mirror the Empathy. But as he looked closely, he noted that the only core Yuuri was actively tapped into now was the Ghost core. He wondered if there had been something about the trap that had discouraged Yuuri’s other cores from remaining active.

Shion really wished he could witness Yuuri tapping into this ability so he could see exactly what happened. That way he could really do something to help the young man out in learning how to control the ability so he never risked something like this happening again.

With a clear sight of Yuuri’s active Ghost core, Shion reached for his Mirror core, the uncentered core nestled around his pulse point in his neck where it tended to be when he wasn’t concealing it in place near another core. It was easy, his Mirror core always hovering at the ready at the corner of his conscious thought. Like his Dispel core, it was practically on a hair-trigger of activation, as it had been formed in a moment of extreme danger to Shion and Nezumi.

Though as soon as his Mirror core was active and ready to copy another core, Shion almost had to look away or restrain it as there was a risk of losing his control of it immediately. With so many active cores around him, his core tried to take it all in at once and he really didn’t feel like dealing with the physical pain that would come along with his core working through three dispositions in quick succession. He could do it but it wasn’t easy. If he weren’t a Chimera, it wouldn’t be so difficult but that wasn’t the case for him and he had to accept his limitations.

Yuichi standing further away made the Paladin core easier to ignore. Wataru’s Ouroboros core was much more difficult to dismiss though. Not only was he standing closer to Yuuri but as the Ouroboros was also an uncentered core and one he was experienced with and so better connected to, it made for a much more potent distraction. But as Shion was familiar with Wataru, had spent enough time working with him in those first days of his core being awakened that he found he could work his way around his core’s attempt to copy that disposition.

So, it took a few extra seconds of struggle Shion hadn’t really been expecting, but he was ready to again Mirror the Ghost core.

He figured that delay was an indication that he was worried about what would happen.

He felt the shift in the feel of his Mirror core, felt the discharge shift as its power pulsed into him. With the copied core also being uncentered, it was able to remain where it had been in his neck, the pulse of power from it in counter to his heartbeat for a few seconds before it synched back up with his body to indicate that it was ready for him to control.

Shion breathed out a sigh, still feeling a sense of wonder at just how free the Ghost core felt. He had experienced so many dispositions by now and he was confident in the thought that none were as…liberating as the Ghost. He could go anywhere, see anyone, even if it was just a part of him, with just the right direction.

He was probably lucky Nezumi was around to keep him from actually following through on the thought he’d had a few times to do on purpose what Yuuri had done on accident: project to Hajime and locate him. He hadn’t since he’d known Nezumi would not only disagree but actually get mad at him. He’d also considered that figuring out where Hajime was at any given moment wasn’t actually much of an advantage. While he and Wataru hadn’t lost against Hajime in their respective times of facing off, they also hadn’t won in the slightest.

Yuichi insisted they were simply lucky and luck wasn’t something that should be relied on when it came to facing Oni.

“Shion, you’re all over the place. Get focused and get to work. Wataru is already removing Victor’s seal,” Nezumi’s low voice whispered into Shion’s ear, centering his always racing mind that only got worse when he was using his Mirror core.

Shion formed the train of thought he’d need: Yuuri’s projection, distant contact, mobile projection, no limitations, proximity of Hajime, avoid Glyph emblem. While the instructions he was relaying to the Ghost disposition he currently controlled would seem disjointed to anyone else, each instruction carried enough connection to what he needed and to the other instructions that it should work for him. That was what mattered.

He repeated the instructions to himself as he leaned his head back onto Nezumi’s shoulder, and then fully activated the Ghost ability to project himself.

It was an aspect of the disposition that Yuuri would have to work up to and Shion only could accomplish because of how many dispositions he knew how to use: the immediate activation of a projection. It was how the disposition could be used strategically and that’s exactly what Shion would do now.

Frustratingly, he failed to project to the correct place four times. Hell, the first attempt had sent him down the street from the onsen, Shion figuring he’d let his concentration slip at clarifying Yuuri’s _projection_ and that was as close as his skill with the disposition would allow. The other three times he couldn’t figure out where he was but was following the instinct that he’d been wrong. He’d still used the time to practice searching the area quickly in the time he had so he could use his time wisely when it mattered most.

Each time he came back to himself, Nezumi was there to keep him upright and from focusing on his failure so he could try again.

The fifth time, as soon as his projection materialized, he just knew he’d gotten it right. Even as he was just looking around the empty hall of what he assumed was an apartment complex, he felt there was something different nearby, something that would have affected him if he were just a little closer. He took a few cautious steps closer to the sensation, ready to signal Nezumi if he felt any actual affects taking hold of him. But it remained as just a feeling at the edge of his awareness so he moved more confidently toward the source, knowing it would be the emblem.

He was two doors away from the room it was coming from and he passed through the wall, acknowledging that it was a weird sensation as he took in as much about the room as he could, looking for Yuuri or the emblem, frustrated that he didn’t see anyone else in the immediate room that could confirm he’d found Hajime.

The kitchen. He saw the emblem drawn into the floor with what had probably been some sort of marker, the color used being yellow so it didn’t stand out as much. He didn’t see Yuuri; that could either have been the emblem getting in the way or he’d failed in his command to have no restrictions which should have allowed him to see and speak to another projection.

He was even more disappointed by that than the four failed projections. He’d wanted to be able to see Yuuri and head back to the others and tell them with confidence that he was alright despite his situation.

Maybe it wasn’t all a failure and he spoke, “Yuuri, it’s Shion. I don’t know if you can hear me but we’re working on getting you out. Be patient and try to remain calm. We’ll help you.”

Once he finished speaking, he started looking around the room more carefully for any indication of where they were. He needed a location and he only had just over a minute left on this projection.

The living room was next to the kitchen and was a mess of trash. That meant there was plenty around to see a bunch of wrappers written in English. Not the most helpful but it did rule out Hajime being in Japan. And most of the wrappers were from fast food places that were found all over.

Deciding he wasn’t going to get much more help from the mess of trash, Shion moved to the window and looked outside, hoping for some luck by being in sight of a some prominent and easily identifiable landmark to just tell him exactly where they were.

The window looked out to another apartment building with only the span of an alleyway between them. He was about to take another look around the living room when he noticed that one of the apartments in the other building had a TV on in his line of sight. And it was on a news channel. They were reporting the weather for Southern California.

He was closer to a location.

The door opened and Shion spun around, instinctively tapping into his Dispel core to make sure he was protected when he remembered that it wasn’t his body here.

Hajime walked into the room, followed closely by two others, one man and one woman.

It took a few seconds of staring for Shion to realize that he recognized the man. He’d only believed he would never see him again.

“How long will it take?” Hajime asked as soon as the door was closed behind them, turning toward the woman as the man continued walking into the apartment, going down the hall that likely led to any bedrooms and bathrooms.

Something was weird about the hallway.

“About an hour. I’ll need to work around the active glyph and have the new one that can be used to expose the projection ready to immediately kick in as I drop this one. One mistake and it’ll fail.”

“We’re not in a hurry. Do it right,” Hajime ordered.

“Then maybe closer to ninety minutes if I’m really not going to be rushed.”

Shion was only partially paying attention, his eyes trained on the hall, figuring out what about it had caught his attention.

He only had about twenty seconds left.

He moved toward the hall, realizing that there were tripwires set up along the length of the hallway, most of them at different levels and various angles below waist level. Shion passed through them, glancing into the doorway on the left when he reached it, seeing a bathroom.

The man came out of the other room, Shion reflexively stepping back before he stepped further to the side so he could look around him and into the room.

There was another young man in the sparsely furnished room. He was around Shion’s age, Caucasian, dark hair, a medium shade of brown eyes, slim build, and he was sending a dark look in the direction of the door but it was a little off from lining up with where the Oni was.

Shion suddenly remembered part of the discussion that had happened with Hajime the last time Yuuri had projected to him, how they had mentioned they had a Beholder and he was blind.

Shion gasped as his eyes opened and he flailed away from Nezumi, almost falling if his partner hadn’t followed him and taken hold of his waist again to stabilize him.

“Shion?” Nezumi called to him and Shion responded by wrapping his arms around Nezumi’s shoulders and holding tight as he tried to calm himself down as quickly as possible.

“I found him but I have to go again. I didn’t get all I need.”

“Be careful. Don’t risk Hajime realizing he doesn’t have the only Ghost looking at him,” Nezumi whispered.

“Everything’s alright here?” Shion felt like he had to check in.

Nezumi hesitated before answering. “Do your job and let us worry about what’s happening here until you’re done.”

It took _a lot_ of effort for Shion to accept that, knowing that Nezumi had just not told him that something was going wrong there but also knowing that if it was out of their hands, he would have stopped Shion from projecting again.

So, Shion went back to work, focusing in on his commands for another projection though he altered them slightly and gave himself more time since he was just repeating the last location.

He’d get the rest of the answers he needed this time.

He wouldn’t let Yuuri and Victor down.

And he’d find a way to weaken Hajime’s forces even if it was just a little by helping out that Beholder he’d just found.

* * *

Yuuri wasn’t doing well with the tight enclosure. He wasn’t claustrophobic in the least but when his anxiety was already in full swing, literally being trapped wasn’t helping things.

He hadn’t heard anything outside of the barrier in a while now but he had no sense of time as he was avoiding any sort of counting to try and control his nerves. He was instead tracing the mark of the symbol he was sitting on, hoping he could disturb it just enough to cancel it out.

He knew in the back of his mind that it was pointless since he had no physical form there but it gave him something to keep his attention on and that was the important part.

He’d also started humming “Yuuri On Ice” at some point, which was actually helping him at least not get more freaked out.

There just had to be _something_ he’d learned from Shion and Wataru that could help him out of this. Something in the basic functions of his dispositions that would allow him to get free. Right?

He ignored the common sense of the thought that it wasn’t actually him trapped, just a collection of core discharge and so he had no access to his cores right now. Because if he listened to that, then that would mean that his situation was hopeless and there was absolutely no way he could free himself. And he had no idea if there would be any way for anyone to know there was even anything wrong. He would just look like he was asleep and Victor had a solid history of letting Yuuri sleep until he woke up on his own.

At the thought of Victor, realized that he had the feeling that the man was right next to him. And not just in the way that he knew he’d fallen asleep with Victor in the same bed but he had the sensation that just the feeling of Victor was surrounding him, embracing him like the Russian so often did. But it wasn’t just like having Victor’s arms around him. It was closer than that, like the man was in his head and surrounding his heart with the comfort he now always filled Yuuri with.

Yuuri looked up from the emblem on the floor and let his eyes scan the short distance in front of him that he could see clearly. Nothing was different. He was still alone in the circle of power and there was still no way out. Then why did it suddenly feel so much like he wasn’t on his own anymore? Why did he feel like Victor was _right there_?

“Victor?” he found himself calling out, no matter how pointless he knew it would be. It was just habit and he couldn’t help but want to hear Victor answer him.

**…lp him…I can…him…an help him…**

Yuuri stood up as he heard what he knew was Victor’s voice, sounding like he was whispering right in his ear, just enforcing the feeling that he was there. It was like the only thing Yuuri couldn’t do was see him, but that didn’t make his presence any less real.

Could Yuuri be feeling something of Victor being beside his body even as his awareness was projected elsewhere? Even if that hadn’t been something he’d experienced in any of the times he’d practiced over the past few days, could it be what was happening now? Maybe it had to do with how long he’d been projecting this time since he’d always kept it short while working with Shion and Wataru so they could give him an idea of his current power capabilities.

He could still hear Victor’s voice echoing in his ear, the words becoming clearer and clearer every second, the presence of Victor becoming stronger in Yuuri’s awareness.

A thought occurred to Yuuri, one that nearly had him sitting back down out of shock as it rang true as soon as he had it: he recognized this feeling.

Sure, it wasn’t exact, but this was so similar to what he felt when his affinity with Phichit formed.

But that couldn’t be what it was. Victor didn’t have a core. Even if he’d managed to keep it private throughout his skating career – some managed and it wasn’t required for the status to be included on their public profiles, just as long as they were following the rules pertaining to specific cores being sealed while performing – Yuuri thought that Victor would have told him, especially when Wataru and Shion showed up and his own cores came to the forefront of their lives for the past few weeks.

Okay, so maybe that had nothing to do with whether or not Victor actually had a core.

 **Yuuri,** Victor’s voice called out to him and this time it sounded more intentional, like how Victor usually called out to him when he wanted his attention.

“Victor?” Yuuri responded, quiet and hesitant.

There was a brief pause before, **Are you really answering?**

“You’re really there?” Yuuri asked instead, feeling relieved and confused and in some ways even more anxious as he returned to having no clue what was going on.

When Victor’s voice returned, he spoke quickly with a blend of excitement and nervousness. **Yuuri! Yes, I’m here! You’re alright. I’ve been so worried about you. You wouldn’t wake up and I knew you were projecting but nothing we did would pull you out of it. And then you weren’t acting like you were okay and I’m so glad to hear your voice.**

Victor continued for a few more seconds in Russian, his rush of emotion getting the better of him. Yuuri waited him out, partially because he knew it was better to let Victor get it out of his system, but mostly because he got caught up processing what was happening. Victor was really talking to him while he was projecting. Somehow.

When there was a break in Victor’s narrative, Yuuri spoke up, “How are you talking to me, Victor? What’s happening? I’ve never heard you like this before when I was projecting and right now I’m trapped.”

There was a delay before Victor answered and Yuuri got the sensation that it was because he thought Yuuri wouldn’t like the answer.

He continued, “And it’s not just that I can hear you. It’s like you’re here with me but I can’t see you. And I swear that’s exactly how I felt when my affinity with Phichit formed. Victor, do we have an affinity and I missed it? Do you have a core that I could form an affinity with?” He was rambling, getting caught up in his heightened anxiety mixing with his confusion.

**I’m sorry, Yuuri. Shion wanted us to try to help you, to make sure you woke up once he found you and they figured out how to get you free. I just…I had to help you and this was how he said I could. Well, he said taking the chance on the start of an affinity forming would help you. He didn’t say anything about us being able to talk like this and I didn’t actually expect it to work. I just thought I could hear you and gave it a try.**

Wait, then he actually was forming an affinity with Victor, with a core he didn’t know Victor had? What was Victor’s disposition? How had something not started forming between them before now? With how much time they spent together and the strong feelings they had for each other, how had nothing like this happened yet?

 **Yuuri, you’re freaking out,** Victor simply stated and that alone was enough to interrupt Yuuri in a way that derailed his returning anxiety.

“What’s happening? What is Shion doing to help me out?”

**He’s trying to find you. He was a bit vague as to what his plans are past that.**

“Weird for Shion to be vague on purpose,” Yuuri mused, his thoughts a bit more relaxed and the stress he’d been feeling since realizing he was trapped actually fading a bit.

And then he heard something that helped that along even further, a voice from beyond the barrier. Not muffled as Hajime’s had been, but clear, quiet, and familiar.

“Yuuri, it’s Shion. I don’t know if you can hear me but we’re working on getting you out. Be patient and try to remain calm. We’ll help you.”

Shion had found him. Yuuri was trapped but Victor was somehow there with him and Shion had found him.

Honestly, Yuuri didn’t care so much about the “how” anymore and simply wondered “how long”. That was preferable.


	15. Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The agent's last resort...

This was a stupid plan and Wataru shouldn’t have gone along with it in the first place. And with as much as Wataru and Shion had to lose in going through with this, why _had_ he gone through with it?

Oh, right. Because he had an unhealthy sense of responsibility and not enough self-preservation. He might as well go offer himself up to Hajime once they had a location for him because Wataru was heading there all on his own.

Okay, maybe things weren’t that bad, but it was hard to not let his pessimistic side come out when he was watching over three unconscious people with nothing else to do but stew about it. And considering there should only have been two unconscious people, he’d gotten into this downward spiral of thoughts a lot faster.

There was no way to know if Victor passing out about five minutes after Wataru had unsealed his core was a good or a bad sign of how things were going.

Well, Yuichi said there wasn’t any increase in danger to any of them so they at least had that. And even when Shion came out of one of his projections in what seemed like a panic, Yuichi still indicated that he was fine, that it wasn’t because of him being in danger. Wataru trusted Yuichi’s senses unquestioningly. There was no question of that. But that didn’t stop his mind from going a little haywire over trying to figure out what he didn’t know.

Shion had just gone under another projection after repositioning so he was facing Nezumi and Yuichi stepped up closer to Wataru. “I know it isn’t really something you rely on, but out of those of us left, you’re the one that can see cores. You’ve never tried seeing affinities.”

Of course Yuichi knew he was anxious and worried. They didn’t need their cores to be connected for him to figure that out. Wataru was an open book emotionally, especially to Yuichi.

“What good would trying now do?” he replied, feeling bad immediately as it had come out ruder than he’d wanted.

He needed to keep a handle on himself so he didn’t destroy anything by accident. Or worse, hurt someone with how close quarters they were all gathered in Yuuri’s room as they were.

“Might make the almighty Deva a little less of a wreck,” Nezumi muttered from his place across the room. “Not even Shion can pick up on affinities; not really a Clairvoyant’s forte anyway. But you’re an Ouroboros, not supposed to have the same limitations. Except for the shitty ones you keep placing on yourself because you can’t face up to it being your core now.”

Wataru felt his irritation rise at that, mostly because Nezumi was scarily accurate. Wataru avoided his Ouroboros core like it would put him on the wrong side of a Plague and it wasn’t because he had to keep it secret. He could do plenty to train himself to use the core without anyone knowing any better. He just chose not to and that was his right.

He was also pretty sure that his continuing struggle with his Esper core was directly related to being scared of learning how to proficiently use the Ouroboros core.

And it wasn’t like Yuichi hadn’t said exactly the same thing to him plenty of times. Yuichi hated that he avoided one of his cores, likely because he knew more about what it could be doing to Wataru’s stability than Wataru did.

“That’s the closest you’re gonna get to me being polite about this. The one person I have an affinity with is who knows where near a Glyph emblem that can trap him in the company of the one Oni we don’t want knowing that he’s alive. Oh, and when he does get back, I’m going to have to figure out a way to keep him from getting distracted by what’s happening with Victor so we can keep our focus on getting Katsuki freed. So how about you suck it up and make one thing in all this easier on me. Give seeing an affinity a shot and just maybe we’ll know for sure there’s nothing more to worry about.”

Nezumi was far from a stoic person; he actually tended to cover up his emotions in the opposite direction of hamming things up. But that was what made him sometimes difficult to get a read on. Wataru figured he did alright since he had a knack for picking up on things some people missed even as he wasn’t the best at purposefully reading body language. But even with all that, he was still surprised by how vehement Nezumi had just been. He wasn’t giving Wataru any wiggle room even as Wataru knew he shouldn’t be trying to find any.

He knew he had a responsibility here to Yuuri, Victor, and Shion. Not because he was a Deva, but because he was partly to blame for Yuuri’s situation, he’d been the one to remove Victor’s seal, and Shion was his friend. As was Nezumi. He really needed to get over his holdups concerning his Ouroboros disposition and he needed to do it now.

He hoped it was easier done than said because that would make for a convenient change.

Oh well, he’d always had pretty good instincts when it came to controlling his dispositions. Maybe that would kick in here. After all, he’d never really taught himself anything when it came to what he saw of cores. He’d never really tried to see what he did; it just happened and he figured it out for the sake of knowing. It was completely possible that he’d already seen what he needed to look for now and he’d just never figured it out.

And he even had someone here to compare it to. Not Yuichi since trying to pick anything out from the one he had an affinity with wouldn’t look the same as looking at literally everyone else. But Shion and Nezumi had a strong, well-developed affinity that was years old. If he could see affinities, they would be a good place to start when it came to figuring out what he needed to compare what he saw with Yuuri and Victor to.

It had to just be some sort of flare of the core since an affinity was just directed neutral discharge.

His ability to see cores had always been automatic, picking up on what he’d perceived as single, small spots of light on the person’s skin where the core was located usually about ten-centimeters in diameter, and never really an obvious thing to see, looking like a small flashlight being covered by a sheet so it was always muffled. And while he could see them through clothes, it was harder. He’d tried to shut off the ability in the early days of his training with the Devas but nothing had worked so he’d just ignored it as best he could.

He didn’t rely on the ability for anything, just like he did everything he could to never rely on any ability of his Ouroboros core.

Blinking a few times to try and make himself focus a little more on what he was seeing, he looked over toward Nezumi and Shion. He figured he would start with them since he knew at least where they had cores centered – they’d never told him what Nezumi’s second disposition was so he only knew the Qilin and he’d guessed that one – and had gotten a lot of practice looking at those cores in that week before he became a Deva where Shion was teaching him how to hide his Ouroboros core in the discharge of his Esper. It took him a few seconds but he did manage to pick out the little spots of light on both men, the low light of the room helping tremendously. He did a quick count, successfully seeing all six cores there was to see between the two.

“Maybe it would be more helpful if there was someone in the room who didn’t have an affinity,” he muttered as the thought occurred to him.

“There will be something different if there’s no affinity forming between them,” Yuichi pointed out as he stepped a bit closer to Wataru, his proximity always a comfort. “There wouldn’t be such a thing as abilities formed because of affinities if nothing changed. You’re good at noticing differences, picking up on things like that. You’ll see it if it’s there to see.”

Wataru let that sink in, making sure he understood the sense in the statement. It was something he’d already known, of course, but the reminder had been needed to cut through his rising anxiety over not succeeding when he really was the only one at the moment with attention to spare to check things out. It wasn’t the highest stakes thing he’d had to do but that didn’t make it any easier to just deal with.

He wasn’t used to being the one anyone relied on. Not when he was an Initiate Deva who’d barely finished his general training and couldn’t even claim to have pinpoint accuracy and control with the one core everyone knew about. There were so many better options for people to rely on – his boyfriend and affinity partner one of those better options – so why should he be used to the concept of being the one being looked to?

“Anytime now,” Nezumi prompted, sounding irritated and Wataru wondered if whatever Shion was going through was somehow straining his affinity partner.

Wataru took in a deep breath as he looked toward the bed where Victor was lying facing toward Yuuri, both men’s bodies lax and showing signs of distress.

It was a surprise to Wataru that he immediately caught sight of four cores: three in Yuuri and the one centered in right hemisphere of Victor’s brain. And all of them were active, pulsing strongly with discharge unlike what Wataru saw when they weren’t being accessed. And the pulses were all in sync with each other.

Wataru looked back to Shion and Nezumi, paying attention to the pulsing. Neither of Nezumi’s cores were active and the only one giving off active discharge indicating use was Shion’s Mirror core, as Wataru expected. But the timing of the pulsing between all of them was the same: slightly faster than a core at rest would be but still synchronized. Wataru knew that even in Chimeras, cores were often “beating” at different rates. They didn’t usually synch up unless the user was accessing an ability they had because of different cores. Like if Shion was using his ability to destroy cores, all three of his Clairvoyant, Dispel, and Wraith cores would pulse in synch as it was because of the three core’s combined abilities that he was capable of that.

Wataru looked back to the pair on the bed, thinking he’d figured out the indicator and wondering if that had been too easy to have succeeded so quickly.

Affinities synchronized the pulsing of cores not only between two people but also with the multiple cores of a Chimera.

Shion was going to go research crazy with this revelation.

And then wouldn’t be able to do anything with it because how he perceived cores was different than how Wataru saw them. With how Shion saw some sort of mist of discharge, it was likely he couldn’t see that sort of detail, at least not without knowing what to look for first.

“I think Shion was right,” he declared as he watched Yuuri’s and Victor’s cores closely, watched how they continued to beat all as one and with the focus realized that it was like they were becoming clearer to see, like thin layers of dilution were being wiped away slowly. “There’s some sort of interaction happening between the two of them.” Wataru remembered what Shion had said earlier. “Victor’s a Telepath, right?”

“Right,” Yuichi answered. “Does that matter?”

“Possibly. I assume Victor was at least adequately trained before being sealed. When I removed the seal, there was no flare of discharge from being freed and that only happens with people who have at least decent control. Maybe him going unconscious is just a natural reaction to his core being connected to an active Ghost core. After all, Yuuri’s awareness isn't here; it's with his projection. It's not too much of a jump to think that any Telepathic communication between them would be with the part of him that would actually be aware of the message.”

“You’re really reminding me of Shion at the moment. Spit it out, Fujii!” Nezumi bit out.

Wataru held in a smirk at that. “I don’t think Victor is necessarily trapped with Yuuri but he’s at least in a matching state so he can communicate with him like his disposition is designed to do. We could likely wake him up easily enough but I don’t think we should try. If I’m right, at least Yuuri isn’t on his own and that might help him keep calm and be in better shape for what’s going on.”

“That’s a lot to assume.”

“It’s not so much of a stretch with an affinity forming between them,” Yuichi said thoughtfully. He’d done plenty of his own studying on various aspects of cores and dispositions, usually focusing on the aspects that Wataru didn’t bother with. “Besides, I don’t feel any threat to him and even though the threat to Yuuri is still the same, something has shifted at least in how he’s handling it. The best way I can describe it is that he doesn’t perceive as much danger as he did not long ago.”

“Didn’t know that was something Paladins could determine,” Nezumi mused distractedly.

Yuichi hesitated for just a second before clarifying, “It’s not standard to be able to. It started as just something I thought I should develop because Wataru has no self-preservation and I figured out how to apply it to my general awareness.”

“So now that we know Victor and Yuuri are keeping up their side of things, what do we do?” Wataru asked, recognizing the irony that they were all there because of his assignment but he was the one asking for their guidance.

Again, he was just an Initiate Deva and they had a lot more experience with facing Oni. He wasn’t even supposed to be in this situation with his Deva rank.

“Nothing we can do until Shion finishes up. He didn’t put the same time limit on himself this time around so he could focus on gathering intel rather than watching a clock. He hasn’t signaled anything being wrong so he must be fine. And I won’t pull him out unless he asks.”

Wataru hated waiting. It really didn’t play to his strengths.

It took Shion about another five minutes to finish up whatever he’d been doing. Nezumi had actually needed to reposition them so Shion was supported between himself and the wall so he could remain mostly upright as he apparently needed for his projection to work best. And Wataru had seen how Nezumi debated going against Shion’s request and just waking him up when he made that shift.

Nezumi didn’t like Shion Mirroring a Ghost core. That much was obvious.

So when Shion stirred awake, there not being the same abrupt awakening as he’d had the last time he returned, Nezumi let Shion have a few seconds to reorient himself and then wrapped him in a tight embrace, his arms looping around Nezumi’s waist in return to allow Nezumi to have the time he needed.

Nezumi pulled away and stood upright, brushing his lips against the scarring of Shion’s left cheek on his way out. “Was it worth it?” he asked, his tone coming out short as he got over the show of their relationship even if it was just in front of Wataru and Yuichi.

“It was,” Shion breathed out his answer, possibly still collecting himself.

There was a prominent pulse of his Mirror core before it faded to become docile. Wataru was surprised that he even noticed a slight difference between Shion’s core being a Ghost and being its usual Mirror state. Should he actually be finding ways to rely on his ability to see cores as he could? Could it become something that would be the difference between winning and losing against an Oni?

“He’s near San Francisco,” Shion declared.

“Of course Hajime wouldn’t be working local to us,” Nezumi muttered.

Shion ignored the commentary and continued on. “Hajime has a Glyph there working on a different emblem that will supposedly give him some way of identifying Yuuri. He said it’ll take some time because of the process he has to go through to work around the active emblem before he switches over to the new one, giving us about an hour to work. That should be enough for us.”

Wataru crossed his arms and gave Shion a disbelieving look. “Really? When was the last time you were able to get from Japan to America in under an hour? Because last time I checked, it took a bit longer. And it’s not like we have much outreach options here.”

Yuichi’s hand rested on Wataru’s shoulder, making him realize that he’d been working himself up and was trying to calm him down before he got too caught up in his emotions. And while he didn’t really calm down, he did stop himself from saying anything else and he grabbed onto the hem of his shirt to make sure his hands remained completely still at his sides.

“I’d already assumed he would be somewhere we couldn’t reach quickly. I have our solution already in mind.”

Nezumi moved like he wanted to push his hands into pockets but the clothes he’d worn to sleep in didn’t have any pockets so he had to settle on crossing his arms, not looking as comfortable in that position: Nezumi preferred hiding his hands without really inhibiting his mobility. “She’s not going to do it, Shion. Not without knowing exactly what she’s putting you into,” he said, confusing Wataru. “She wouldn’t just make an unregistered trip to America in the middle of the night because her sweet little boy asked nicely. She already lets you keep enough secrets, telling herself it falls under the confidentiality of your position. But she’d at least require you to tell her why you didn’t just use the one contracted to the U.E.A.”

“I’m aware of that, Nezumi. That’s why it’s not what I’m going to be asking her help with.”

Wataru’s patience, already stretched thin, was just about exhausted so he snapped out, “Excuse me! Explanation please!”

“Shion’s mom is a Warp, a retired Deva,” Nezumi replied smoothly, like he hadn’t just revealed something that was on par with the revelation that Victor had a sealed core. Aside from the rarity of Warps, a disposition that was highly sought after by both Oni and any enforcement agency user or not with their ability to instantaneously transport from one place to another with the limitations being more commonly how much they could take with them rather than how far they could go, if Shion’s mom made it to retiring out of the Devas, that meant that she had survived over twenty years working with them. That was…just phenomenal.

And possibly explained a little about Shion’s own history with the organization.

“That’s unexpected,” Yuichi understated, Wataru hearing the awe in his voice.

Shion’s cheeks were a little pink with a blush and his words were rushed for a few seconds as he pressed them forward. “Yes, but as I said, I’m not thinking about asking her to Warp any of us to Hajime. Not only would she not accept the request, but there is more happening there than them having set up a trap for Yuuri. We simply can’t risk becoming further involved until Yuuri is removed from danger.”

“Then what _are_ you going to ask her?” Yuichi asked quickly before anyone else could focus on a different part of what Shion had said, like Wataru had wanted to do.

“Nezumi, my phone, please,” Shion requested quickly, his partner giving him a flat look before he left the room to do as Shion asked. “We need to get to the result of immediate action against the Oni without having to answer too many questions as to how we came across the information we did.” He looked to Wataru then before asking, “What’s the easiest way to accomplish that?”

Shion wouldn’t have asked him unless he was certain Wataru would know the answer so Wataru managed to keep from biting back anything sarcastic and thought it over. What would be the easiest way to have anything mobilized against an Oni? And to not only get something quick but with a minimum of questions as to the source?

The answer was obvious.

“It comes from the Prominents. Don’t tell me your mom was a Prominent,” Wataru finished, sounding a little drained even to himself. It was one thing for her to have retired out of the Devas but for her to have been one of the twelve Devas that was in charge of the entire organization and everyone working for it might actually short out Wataru’s brain. It just seemed to be too much for the son of a Prominent to be the one to teach Wataru how to keep a secret from the same organization she had been a leader of.

“No, she wasn’t a Prominent. However, it was very likely that she would have been chosen if she hadn’t retired to give birth to me and raise me instead. What she can help us with now is that she knows one of the Devas that were made a Prominent instead of her. She was good friends with them and they told her that if she ever needed a favor, they would help her without question. Perhaps the offer will extend to her son.”

Nezumi was coming back into the room, closing the door behind him as he said, “Yeah, there’s nothing about this plan that can go awry. Why is asking her for a line to a Prominent any less likely to be met with no questions asked?”

Shion took his phone from Nezumi. “Because she knows me even asking is beyond a last resort. She knows I understood the severity of this even before I was a user.” He looked up from his phone and his eyes fixed somberly on Nezumi before he said, “The Projector is with Hajime. He’s helping him hold someone else hostage there.”

Nezumi’s hands clenched at his sides before he simply said, “Make the call,” before he turned away, letting out a tense breath. Shion turned away from them as he held his phone to his ear, speaking quietly after a short pause.

“What’s that about?” Yuichi asked.

Nezumi paused long enough that Wataru thought he wouldn’t answer. But then he spoke in a quiet voice. “It was because of a Projector back when Shion was still a Deva that Hajime decided to kill him. The guy was killing people and nearly took Shion out. It’s how we got back in contact with each other. Shion lost him and then he was a Chimera and kicked out of the Devas so he couldn’t keep looking. We sort of figured the Devas had been able to track the guy down. But he knows Shion, saw his identification. He’s the reason Shion almost died even if he wasn’t the one who almost killed him.”

Nezumi was pissed and Wataru didn’t blame him. He knew that Yuichi would feel the same if someone had ever been so directly responsible for causing him so much pain and danger.

Shion walked over toward them, holding the phone out in front of him and looking toward Nezumi. “She wants to talk to you.” Nezumi reached for the phone but Shion shook his head and Wataru glanced down at the phone, seeing that it was on speaker.

“Karan?” Nezumi said, his tone taking on a gentle manner Wataru had never heard coming from the young man. He must really respect the woman on the other end of the line.

“Who else is there?” Shion’s mom, Karan, asked. Her tone reminded Wataru of his own mother, a deep kindness that just resonated with care. But Karan’s also conveyed not only experience but a wisdom that someone who had lived through a lot gained. If this was what Shion grew up with, it wasn’t any wonder that he often seemed older than he really was.

“Deva Initiate Wataru Fujii and his affinity partner Paladin Yuichi Kazuki,” Shion answered. Wataru glanced over to the two unconscious on the bed and then back at Shion, the young man shaking his head toward him.

“Nezumi would have tried to talk you out of this,” Karan continued after a short pause.

“I’m always trying to talk him out of stuff,” Nezumi said, some genuine amusement coming through. “This time, once I had all the details, I rescinded my objection.”

“Why?”

“Because I can’t have one of the Oni involved staying free, not for what he’s done to Shion. I’ll accept owing someone a favor if it means this gets settled now. Discreetly.” There wasn’t a response from Karan for a few seconds and so Nezumi added, “We all understand what we’re asking. We don’t ask lightly, just like you know Shion wouldn’t.”

Karan let out a short sigh before the line went silent, the screen indicating that she had hung up.

Wataru exchanged a look with Yuichi when Shion’s phone let out a notification sound announcing an incoming text. Shion pulled up the message and let out a relieved sigh.

“She sent me the number.” He dialed it right away, putting it right to speaker phone and held the phone out between them all. The line connected after three rings.

“Hello?” a female voice answered, voice calm and even with no indication of curiosity or suspicion.

Shion replied quickly but efficiently. “Hello, this is Shion Himura. I am with my affinity partner Nezumi Kaneda, Deva Initiate Wataru Fujii and his Paladin affinity partner Yuichi Kazuki. We are calling you in regards to a situation we have become aware of near San Francisco concerning multiple Oni that needs to be handled immediately and with discretion as to the source of the intel.”

There was hardly any hesitation before there was a reply. “Your mother gave you this number.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yes. She told me long ago that she knew you, that she had been good friends with Prominent Elyurias. She said that you had promised to be a resource for her if she ever needed anything she couldn’t accomplish on her own.”

“Did she tell you this before or after you became the youngest Deva in history?”

Considering that Wataru had at least heard about the thirteen-year-old that had become a Deva even if he learned later that it had been Shion, it wasn’t a surprise that a Prominent knew him. He was actually pretty sure that all of them had to ultimately be involved in the decision to allow it or guide his progress while he worked with the organization.

“She told me about you before I became a Deva. She wanted me to know about you in case something ever happened to her.”

“Instead you were the one targeted.” Wataru considered that this Prominent, Elyurias, had paid close attention to what happened to Shion because of her friendship with Karan. “Yet you continue to gain a strong reputation within the User Enforcement Agency, deciding against working as a consultant to the Devas.”

“I required access that wouldn’t have been allowed to me as a consultant.”

“The company you’re keeping isn’t exactly low profile either. Your affinity partner has quite a reputation and history as well. And the Deva you’re working with has a lot of attention on him. Then there is the Paladin whose brother is steadily working his way toward being a strong candidate for becoming a Prominent as soon as the next rotation.”

Wataru thought he wasn’t being unreasonable in being intimidated by a Prominent recognizing him. Especially when he was doing his best to stay under anyone’s radar so his departure after his two years were up wouldn’t be a big deal.

“I don’t mean any disrespect but the situation needs to be dealt with immediately and with guarantee of success,” Shion said, his voice serious in a way not often heard from him.

Wataru hoped that Elyurias wouldn’t be too quick to shut them down for Shion’s bluntness. Then again, she was a Prominent, a rank that there were only twelve of at any time, reaching that rank by a popular vote of all active Devas. And with the vote occurring every two years with two new ones being placed while the two that had been Prominents the longest retiring out, the organization avoided anyone getting too much individual influence. That process was why the Prominents were so trusted by the general population as well as the Devas they were in charge of. All that added up to her hopefully being reasonable enough to accept the severity of Shion’s request like they needed.

“What information do you have that will mean I can guarantee success?” Elyurias asked, her voice as calm as it had been all along. It was actually a little impressive and a lot intimidating.

“Three Oni in an apartment complex on the northern edge of San Francisco, holding two civilian prisoners. One looks like he has been there a long time and they are putting in a lot of effort to keep him there. The other is a Ghost projection trapped in a Glyph emblem. The time concern is the Glyph revealing the identity of the Ghost and putting him in extended danger from the Oni. The Ghost being projected there to begin with is an accident.”

“What are the dispositions?”

“The Glyph, one Sidhe Elemental, and one Projector. My records will have reports concerning the Sidhe and the Projector.”

There was the first pause that hopefully indicated Elyurias was thinking things over. “Why the need for anonymity?”

“How I got the information is something I would prefer to keep anyone from knowing about.”

Wataru was surprised Shion revealed that much but it was hard to think he could actually say less. It was obvious they were already benefitting from his mom’s connection to this Prominent. If not for that, he doubted they would have even gotten past the introduction.

“Who does know how you found the information?”

“Only the people in the room with me.”

Another pause, then, “Initiate Fujii?”

“Y-yes, ma’am?” Wataru replied hesitantly, having not expected being called on.

“You aren’t there on investigation. You’re there on approved leave so there is nothing to submit a report on. I’ll update your status and inform the Master you report to.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he repeated. He hoped she’d been on a computer looking things up to know that Shion and Nezumi were here as support for his assignment.

Yuuri and Victor would probably be happy to hear that absolutely nothing was going on record about Yuuri’s cores.

“Shion?”

“Yes?”

“Text me the location.” Shion immediately moved the phone closer to himself so he could better see what he was doing and he started tapping in the message and sent it off quickly. Once he was finished and there was a short pause followed by the Prominent remarking that it had been received. Then there was another short pause before she continued. “And Shion, one more thing. Make sure you remember this number. Don’t save it, remember it. I know that isn’t a challenge for you. This isn’t some sort of transaction. I’m happy to extend my resources to the son of someone I would still trust my life with. And don’t think too much on it: every Prominent has a few people they would offer the same help to. It keeps us connected to the important side of what we do: helping the people actually in the fight.”

“Thank you.”

Shion hung up and let out a heavy sigh, stepping to the side so he could rest his forehead against Nezumi’s shoulder. Nezumi reached up and cupped Shion’s neck with his hand. After a few deep breaths, Shion lifted his head again and looked over to the pair on the bed. Wataru glanced over as well, noting that both Victor and Yuuri looked like they weren’t in as much distress.

“I’m going back,” Shion announced. “I need to make sure everything goes well. And Victor and Yuuri deserve to know what’s going on.” He blinked quickly a few times, Wataru recognizing Shion working through how he was seeing them with his Clairvoyant core active. “The discharge is clean, healthy. It shouldn’t be as difficult as I’d assumed to get a clear Mirror. They’re alright. I didn’t expect Victor to lose consciousness because of the affinity.”

“We figured it was because of Yuuri’s dispositions, some sort of reaction to his situation and Victor being a Telepath,” Wataru muttered. He was trying to not be irritated by how easily Shion just noted the state of things and moved on without nearly panicking like he had.

“You’re likely correct. It’s also not an ideal situation for an affinity to form and that tends to impact how it goes." In an instant, his focus was on his partner. "It’s going to be a while for me being gone this time so once I’m under, go ahead and sit or lie me down.”

“I’m pulling you out if I think I need to,” Nezumi declared.

“I assumed as much. Alright, I’m going.”

After a minute or so, Shion had again Mirrored the Ghost core and activated it, Nezumi holding him upright until he was lax and then he maneuvered him to the floor and sat beside him, looking as on guard as he did irate.

“You guys might as well get comfortable too. He’s not coming back until Yuuri and Victor do.”

Wataru gave Nezumi a confused look until he realized what he meant about what exactly Shion had done this time around. He let out a groan of frustration and turned toward Yuichi, crossing his arms. “You’re keeping an eye on him?” he asked even though he was sure of the answer.

“Never stopped. They’ll be alright.”

Wataru hoped so.


	16. Dissolve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything comes to a close but how successfully...

“Are you still there, Victor?” Yuuri asked. He’d been quiet for what seemed like a few minutes and though he still felt the same as he had since Victor first spoke to him he needed to make sure. He didn’t want to be alone again.

 **Of course. I’m not leaving you alone, Yuuri.** Victor’s voice echoed right in Yuuri’s ears, the younger man feeling himself relax ever so slightly just by the familiar sound.

Yuuri decided that he had to keep hearing Victor or he’d just keep thinking he was gone.

“So, you’re a user? I never would have guessed that,” Yuuri said absently, just saying what was on his mind that wasn’t his trapped situation. “I don’t remember ever seeing it on any profile.”

 **I chose not to disclose it. I was sealed even before I started skating professionally so I wasn’t required to have it on record. The most time I’ve spent without a seal is when I was learning how to use it.** Victor sounded detached from what he was saying, like he was just rattling off the facts without really caring about what he was saying. And with Victor, it was very possible that he really didn’t care one way or another. He’d made sure it had nothing to do with his skating and that was enough to have it lose his interest.

But now…

Yuuri curled tighter into himself and held back a choked sound as his emotions rose. “I’m sorry, Victor. You wouldn’t have had to do anything if I hadn’t ended up here. I just mess things up for you.”

**Yuuri…**

Yuuri kept going. “If you being able to talk to me like this is really an affinity between us, then that means you won’t be able to just be sealed again. Seals aren’t allowed if the person has an affinity. Not even Oni who have affinities are allowed to be sealed. You won’t be able to be like you were before.”

Yuuri felt warmth spread through his body, the sensation of Victor’s presence growing stronger. It was like he was being surrounded by Victor.

**I stopped being like I was before right when I met you for the first time. Yuuri, just because it wasn’t what I wanted before doesn’t mean I’m doing something against my will. I told you I just wanted to do everything I could to help you.**

Yuuri couldn’t hold back a sob at the rush of emotion that came from Victor’s declaration. He couldn’t help but say, “How do you know I’m worth it?”

There was another rush of warmth before Victor replied. **Even if it was about anyone being “worth it”, you still wouldn’t fall short. You’re worth everything even if you refuse to see that.**

On one hand, Yuuri couldn’t just believe what Victor said. He just didn’t think that of himself and he never had, not when he _always_ fell short of what he wanted. So why should he actually succeed in having the one thing he probably wanted more than anything else: Victor to stay in his life, whatever that meant. It was a selfish wish that he knew he hadn’t put enough work into attaining for it to come true like it seemed was happening.

But on the other hand, Victor had only ever been honest with him when it came to these kinds of declarations of how he felt about Yuuri.

He was about to reply when the warmth that was surrounding him closed in on him. It felt simultaneously suffocating and protective, like the warmth was trying to make sure it was the only thing that could touch Yuuri.

“Is that you, Victor?” Yuuri asked, lifting his head and looking around even though nothing changed as far as what he could see. It was still just the barrier surrounding him with the blur of a room beyond it as far as he could tell.

Before he heard any response, the air next to him shifted and then seemed to solidify as he watched, taking on the form of Shion after a few seconds and Yuuri sat down heavily on the floor as the agent took shape and then remained at his side.

“Shion?” Yuuri said, dumbfounded. First Victor and now Shion.

The agent looked down at him and let out a relieved sigh and moved to kneel before he stopped himself and looked around them, his gaze lingering on the floor beneath them. He even shifted his feet so he could see that.

“What’s going on, Shion?” Yuuri asked.

Red eyes looked back to him and he then kneeled down as he’d been about to do before, matching his eye level to Yuuri. “I would have come into the trap sooner but I had to make sure everything was set up for getting you out of here just in case I’m wrong and Nezumi can’t get me out at any moment.”

“Wait, if Nezumi can get you out, can’t he just get me out?”

Shion gave him a sad smile as he shook his head. “No. Not only does our affinity play a part, but me being here is because I’m a Mirror, not actually a Ghost. I wish we could just have him help you out. It would have been preferred to what we’re actually having to resort to. But everything is set and we’re just waiting on it being put into motion. I wanted to make sure I at least told you that help is coming for sure and be here as long as I can. I’m not sure if my core will deplete slower by being within the trap like yours is so I may only manage staying here for a few minutes. Are you aware of a connection with Victor?”

Yuuri frowned in confusion before answering hesitantly. “Of course. Victor’s here with me.”

Shion gave him a curious look before muttering, “Affinity abilities come through once again.” He spoke up as he continued, “Let’s hope what happened this time around means you’ll remember everything. After all, it stopped being a standard projection as soon as the emblem activated.”

“You’ll actually tell me what happened if I don’t, right? It’s not going to be like before where you guys decided I shouldn’t know what I saw.”

“You have the right to be upset about us remaining secretive, but we have our responsibilities and your stumbling into Hajime’s existence doesn’t make you any less of a civilian. Because of what’s happened this time, though, we will make sure you know everything and hopefully that knowledge will help keep you safe once we’re not here.”

 **How are you being freed? He hasn’t said.** Victor’s voice nearly made Yuuri startle.

“Victor wants to know how exactly I’m getting out of this,” Yuuri conveyed as soon as it was obvious that Shion couldn’t hear Victor. So it really was just between the two of them.

“The Devas received intel concerning the location of several Oni who have been pursued in the past by the organization and the U.E.A. from a reliable source,” Shion replied and Yuuri was struck at how the young man managed to keep the secret he was with how absolutely horrible he was at concealing things. He obviously didn’t want them to ask anything else though Yuuri found that strange. It wasn’t like he and Victor were the ones he needed to keep his secret from since they already knew. Was it just a matter of him being used to needing to hold back?

“Will Wataru be coming?” he asked, wondering if that was it, if Shion just didn’t want Yuuri to know that someone he’d gotten along with and come to know was going to be putting himself in danger.

Shion looked surprised by the question. “Um, no. There’s no way any of us could be involved. Not just because of our positions or rank where Wataru is concerned. You’re projected to California where Hajime is currently.”

Yuuri had to actually pause to consider if he was surprised by that, deciding that, yes, he was. Just the idea that while his body was in Hasetsu, his awareness was on a different continent. And getting there and returning when he was freed would be a matter of seconds. So, yeah, it was still shocking to him what he was apparently capable of.

Suddenly he felt the need to get complete control over his cores. Not because of being trapped but because of the thought that he should never be this far away from himself unless it was his choice. What if there were some sort of limits he was bypassing because of this ability of his to connect with other people?

It wouldn’t be something he thought of if not for knowing of Wataru’s predicament with his cores, how natural limitations had been bypassed because of the cores that made him a Chimera. That made it impossible to not consider that Yuuri’s own cores had meant safeguards on abilities were being bypassed and made irrelevant.

And Shion had been consistent in his insistence that when it came to Chimeras, they would just have to wait and see. There were just too many variables. Even if they knew another Chimera with Ghost, Reaper, and Empath dispositions, they still wouldn’t be able to answer all these questions with a hundred percent certainty because of the influence of individuality.

Yuuri decided that he would figure everything out about his cores. He’d wanted to before but now he knew for sure that it was going to happen.

“They should be here any minute. They would have gotten the closest Deva division in the area assigned. I’ve heard from many people that the response of American divisions is impressive as they tend to see a lot more Oni that are more interested in random acts of violence than we see here in Japan. They also know there’s a Glyph in here so they’ll be looking for emblems and will deactivate any they see immediately. They won’t know the purpose of this emblem or the one the Glyph is working on and will simply see that it isn’t a threat.”

 **He didn’t tell them about you?** Victor asked, sounding surprised. Yuuri repeated the thought to Shion as he was also curious about that.

“It wasn’t necessary for them to free you, no. To break your anonymity concerning the Devas now would likely result in you being placed in protective custody. They would see no other option.” Shion pulled at the hair behind his ear briefly as he seemed to be collecting his thoughts.

Yuuri was actually missing the little hints his Empathy would give him about people.

“The Devas, they mean well. I don’t want you to get the impression that they don’t want the best for every civilian they come across, especially once they become involved with Oni. However, they have in some ways become too attached to how things worked in the past. They aren’t willing enough to enact change to keep up with the world. They aren’t completely behind the times but they are suffering for it. If I were still a Deva I probably wouldn’t be telling you this, but a lot has happened that makes me inclined to believe you should hear this, especially since you are now aware of the one Oni that seems to present the greatest threat to all organizations that oppose Oni. If something doesn’t change within the Devas, if they don’t catch up, they could be destroyed. They have already begun losing ground against the Oni and it will only get worse.”

Yuuri took that in, realizing quickly why Shion wouldn’t just say that to anyone. The general population saw the Devas as the ultimate defense against the Oni. Sure, the U.E.A. was recognized as an effective option but they operated more on the small scale, day-to-day issues with cores instead of being focused more on countering Oni. If people knew that the Devas weren’t being effective against the Oni, there was no telling the sort of panic that would happen as a result.

So…

“Why tell me this now?” he asked.

Shion gave a strained smile. “As I said, I think you should know. After all, you are a Reaper and your learning how to use your Empathy and Ghost cores may result in your Reaper core becoming more active. The deaths you start becoming aware of may be ones people are going to want to know about. And the one that is going to likely be responsible in some manner is the one who arranged this trap for you. I don’t believe it’s safe for you to not know. Maybe before this I could have said otherwise but not now.”

Yuuri could see Shion’s reasoning but it also just seemed like it wasn’t everything.

“I don’t completely understand my decision myself,” Shion continued to admit. He then gave a rueful chuckle before adding, “Just ask Nezumi: if I do something that makes complete sense to everyone, something is very wrong.”

There was commotion beyond the line of the emblem’s barrier, the sound still muffled enough so that’s all that Yuuri could say it was that he heard. Shion took a step forward, positioning himself as best as he could between Yuuri and the direction of the rest of the apartment. Yuuri moved to stand up and then as back as far as he was comfortable with while avoiding coming in contact with the barrier. Then there was shouting and now it sounded more like fighting.

After about a minute of this with the sounds varying in how far away they seemed to be, Shion let out a groan of frustration. “I wish I could see what was happening. I’m a Clairvoyant; I’m used to being able to see.”

 **I wish I could say he’s being dramatic but I actually get where he’s coming from with that,** Victor mused, sounding a mix of amused and thoughtful. Yuuri wondered if that had to do with Victor spending so much time sealed. He wondered if it didn’t matter that he chose it or how long he’d been sealed if Victor missed having access to his core.

Yuuri really wished he would be able to remember everything that happened, if for no other reason than he really wanted to remember all these things he wanted to ask Victor.

“They’re not in the apartment yet,” Shion suddenly declared.

“How can you tell? Even when Hajime was right next to the barrier talking to me earlier, it sounded like he was in another room. And I haven’t heard anything since then but there’s had to be something with all that happened.”

“There might be a function on the border of the emblem that allowed them to further affect you being able to perceive things beyond the barrier. And the Glyph may have deactivated that while working out what he’s adding but there hadn’t really been anything else for you to hear in here.”

Yuuri was about to question that further considering it wasn’t like there was much danger to them in here when the fight was on the other side of the barrier when they were able to hear voices clearly enough to make out what they said.

It was Hajime and he was speaking in a rush, angry and commanding. “Get rid of the emblem. Might as well not hand them everything on a silver platter. Fucking Devas.”

“How the hell did they find us when we trapped the one who showed up?” another voice and Shion’s shoulders tensed like he was nervous.

“I don’t know. Couldn’t have been the Ghost, not from inside that emblem. We can’t worry about that though, not with them coming in. Our attention needs to stay on the other one. We can’t lose him, not when I’ve already lost track of the Ouroboros and he’s been damn insistent on not showing up again.”

“What, you’re just giving up here?” The other man sounded almost insulted.

“Hardly. I’m prioritizing and you’re following fucking orders. Get rid of the emblem before they get inside.”

Someone walked away and there was silence for a few seconds before water suddenly entered the line of the barrier and covered the tiles beneath Yuuri and Shion, Yuuri stepping back reflexively in his surprise even as he couldn’t even feel the water as it flowed past where his feet were and his back ran into the barrier behind him. He yelped at the burning pain that flared up where he’d made contact and Shion rounded on him, concerned.

 **Yuuri! Are you okay?** Victor’s voice called out to him, also worried.

“Yuuri?” Shion asked, almost as an echo to Victor’s voice.

“I’m alright. Just hit the barrier.” He looked back down toward the floor where the water had settled, enough having been dumped to cover all he could see in a solid layer. And even as he watched, the markings that made up the emblem were starting to fade, dissolve.

Shion was looking as well. “They really are just going to get rid of the emblem so the Devas can’t figure out what the Glyph was doing.” He turned back toward Yuuri. “As soon as a single line of the emblem is completely broken, the emblem will be ineffective and you’ll be free. Just focus on waking up. Follow the feeling of Victor. Hold onto it and it’ll guide you back safely. Don’t second guess yourself or hesitate. You’re a strong person, Yuuri, but you’re the one that needs to _know_ that right now.”

Shion had just barely finished saying that when he disappeared, the barrier falling away as apparently the emblem had dissolved enough to fail.

Was that supposed to happen once the emblem stopped?

Even as that thought occurred to Yuuri, he realized that he definitely wasn’t in that same room anymore either. He looked around him, finding himself in a sparsely furnished bedroom with a single occupant, a young Caucasian man around Shion’s age with brown hair and eyes, walking toward the door slowly, like he was trying to keep from being noticed. He stumbled slightly over a pair of pants in his path and let out a quiet string of profanity.

Yuuri heard what sounded like a door breaking followed by shouting and he wondered if he’d only moved to a different room of the apartment.

 **Yuuri, you need to focus on getting back.** Victor’s voice startled Yuuri. **Shion said that if you don’t come back correctly, you could get lost and not be able to wake up. That’s why we removed my seal, to help make sure you woke up. Now you can’t do anything else here so come home.**

Yuuri took one last look at the young man, hoping that the Devas would be able to help him.

But then he wasn’t sure what to do. Every time he’d come out of a projection that he remembered it was because he set a limit before he activated his core. What did he need to do when it hadn’t been him commanding his core to work?

**Cores aren’t some foreign objects we’re stuck with, Yuuri. They’re part of us. They want to protect us.**

“But how do I control something I’m not actually with?” Yuuri asked, his voice quiet as he felt his anxiety rise.

**Of course you’re with your core. Remember, this is only just a projection but you still are in complete contact with your core. How else would I be able to talk to you since we’re connected through our cores?**

There was a rush of warmth along Yuuri’s side and across his stomach.

Victor…That was Victor. Not just the feeling of Victor being with him but actually where Victor was. Yuuri didn’t know why he was so certain but once he realized it, he knew with absolute certainty that he was right. He was feeling Victor holding him as he’d been when they went to sleep.

Follow Victor.

Yuuri wanted to hold Victor back but he couldn’t do that as some projection. He moved toward the sensation of the familiar warmth of Victor Nikiforov.

The closer he got, the more he became aware of other things as well. The chill of sweat on his face. The stiffness of his body from being in the same position for so long. The tiredness of his body like he’d worked out beyond his limits. A residual hotness on his back and hands where he’d come in contact with the barrier. Victor’s breath on his cheek and neck.

The next thing he knew, he was startling awake with a deep gasp as he sat up and then immediately got lightheaded and nearly collapsed back onto the bed but was supported by an arm wrapping around his shoulders, the arm around his waist tightening.

Victor was still holding him, sitting up as well as he kept Yuuri close while he got his breathing under control.

He gradually became aware of the rest of the room besides Victor and actually being able to feel the bed he was sitting on. Wataru and Yuichi were standing nearby, silently watching the pair and Yuuri was struck by the awareness of their concern that was slowly being replaced with relief that he’d been missing without having access to his Empathy. He didn’t see Nezumi or Shion at first but then he looked over toward his desk and saw that Shion was sitting on the floor with Nezumi next to him, the two leaning so close together and speaking so quietly that even the small room didn’t allow Yuuri to hear what they were saying. But they were intense about whatever it was.

“Yuuri?” Victor called out to him and he looked to the Russian, their faces so close together that all Yuuri could be aware of was Victor. There was only a few seconds’ hesitation before Yuuri wrapped his arms around Victor’s waist, hugging him tightly and feeling himself become more grounded for the contact.

It was so disorienting to be able to _feel_ everything again after what seemed like so long without. He had no idea how long he was projected but he wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t as long as he thought it was.

“Thank you,” he whispered, deciding that he wouldn’t let go for as long as he was allowed. Victor didn’t seem to be of the mind to oppose as his arms returned the embrace, looping around Yuuri’s shoulders with a hand on Yuuri’s head so he could twist Yuuri’s hair between his fingers soothingly.

It was a few minutes later when Shion and Nezumi finally stood up, Yuuri noticing how Shion swayed a little before Nezumi grabbed onto his elbow and helped him remain balanced. Had he really used so much of his power that he has having trouble standing on his own?

“I got a message from Elyurias following up with what happened in the apartment.”

“Who’s Elyurias?” Yuuri asked before he could consider that there were a lot more important questions he could have asked.

Shion hesitated, a brief wave of anxiety passing through him before it passed. “My Deva contact. There was only one Oni in the apartment when they got inside: the Projector. There was no sign of Hajime or the Glyph. And there’s no indication of where they went or even how they got out of the apartment. And there’s nothing in the Deva’s report that indicate that there was even a Glyph there.”

Then they really had made it a priority for the Devas to have no idea that they’d trapped a Ghost and had been trying to identify him.

“That’s disappointing,” Yuichi mused by way of massive understatement.

“I suppose we could take it as such.”

“What other way can we take it?” Wataru asked.

“How about that we actually succeeded in what we set out to do. Yuuri was freed, his identity still safe from Hajime, he was able to return safely, and the other person that was being held by the Oni was freed as well. Everything else was secondary. We all did our jobs and there is nothing we should be ashamed about in how things ended up.”

“Hajime knows there’s a Ghost that can locate him,” Yuichi pointed out.

“But Yuuri can’t locate him without proximity to us because even now he has never had contact with Hajime and as with most Ghost cores, it works best if the user has had contact with either the person or a place they are projecting to.”

“Hajime doesn’t know that.”

“There is nothing he can use to track Yuuri down, especially with Yuuri keeping his dispositions off all records.”

“He figured out I’m an Ouroboros. How am I supposed to believe that he can’t figure out who Yuuri is if he gets the chance to?”

“Honestly, I believe you and the one he was holding in that apartment are a greater priority to him.” Shion turned his focus to Yuuri, who sat up a little straighter and allowed there to be a little distance between him and Victor. “That being said, don’t give him a reason to make you a priority. You have to promise us that you won’t try to project to Hajime or any other Oni again. And Wataru and I will be leaving so that will removing the risk of you accidentally projecting to them because of us. We will have to maintain distance from you unless there’s an absolute emergency and then we will have to make sure we are never asleep at the same time as you while within a certain distance.”

Despite everything that happened, Yuuri wasn’t entirely turned away from that desire to help. However, he felt he could be more wary about how he went about it. He needed to learn more before he offered or tried to do anything like this again. He needed to be smart about this.

Especially since it wasn’t just about him anymore.

“I promise,” he said, completely genuine.

Maybe one day he would be able to do something to help Shion and Wataru but it wouldn’t be for a while. He could accept that, get back to some measure of normalcy of focusing on preparing for the Grand Prix Finals next and then whatever followed as he wasn’t actually sure if he was going to be continuing skating competitively after that, and just know that he would reach the point of being able to control his abilities eventually but would leave the Oni to the Devas and U.E.A. until then. He didn’t have to do it all now just because the two were right there. They would still be there when he was ready. He believed that even as he wondered how he could possibly be so sure.

Maybe it was his Reaper core actually kicking in on some level. The thing had been so inconsequential this whole time that Yuuri sometimes couldn’t help but dismiss its existence.

“Then I need to get some rest. The Ghost core is just about the most exhausting disposition I’ve ever worked with. You don’t need to worry about connecting with me again, though. Besides the drain on your Ghost core, Nezumi can form a barrier that can keep you out.”

“Why didn’t he do that before?” Victor asked, mostly just curious.

“Mostly I just didn’t want to because it isn’t a practical solution for anything long-term. It means I won’t be getting much sleep so I can charge it back up periodically. And it will actually affect my perception of anything going on beyond the barrier. I don’t like there to be blind spots around me, even if it is by my own core.”

“Then Yuuri doesn’t need to worry about sleeping at the same time as you right now?” Victor checked again and Yuuri didn’t blame the caution in the least.

Shion blinked a few times, gave Yuuri an intense look, and then gave a kind smile. “Based on the low level of discharge he’s putting out right now, I doubt he could activate his Ghost core enough to project even if he wanted. We’ll still be cautious but his core is as expended as mine. And cores tend to not give a spike of power unless there is already a threat they are responding to. Just try to get some sleep, let your cores recover a little and settle down. Then you can address the decisions you need to make.” Shion turned his focus to Victor. “Tell us your decision before we leave and Wataru can restore the seal if that’s what you choose. If we had Nezumi do it, you would need to have someone else reapply it soon anyway. Sealing isn’t an ability he’s trained himself extensively in and no one tolerates him well enough to help him.”

Shion was trying to break the tension even just a little but it fell flat. The most he got was an eye roll from Nezumi as the man tugged gently on Shion’s arm, urging him toward the door saying, “I’ve held you up enough for one night. I’m not carrying you to bed because you kept ignoring your exhaustion.”

The pair headed toward the door, Nezumi exchanging a meaningful look with Yuichi that Yuuri didn’t understand. Was there something about Yuichi that made a difference in anything right now?

As the two agents closed the door behind them, Yuuri’s confusion must have shown on his expression because Yuichi spoke in a low voice, “I’ll maintain guard over us through the night. With Nezumi’s awareness compromised, he’ll settle for a Paladin’s senses. We’ll leave you to get some sleep. Let us know if you need anything. I’ll be awake for the night and Wataru probably won’t sleep well.”

Wataru didn’t even look like he was going to object. He was…reserved, Yuuri guessed was a good word for what he perceived from the Deva.

Yuichi turned and slid the door open again and stepped to the side to let Wataru pass him, but the younger teen paused. He gave Yuuri and Victor a look before sighing.

“We’re serious: don’t talk about it tonight. The initial successful connection releases massive endorphins and the survival instincts of the cores are more active now than they will ever be again. Anything you decide within the first few hours of an affinity runs the risk of not being…without influence. The connection wants to exist now that it’s formed, even if that isn’t ultimately right for the two of you right now. And choosing not to allow the affinity to remain doesn’t make it any less real or take away from that it formed in the first place. Some people just want to be sealed and that’s what’s best for them.”

It was hard to tell if this was just Wataru’s general pessimism towards cores or if he was just doing whatever he could to make sure they didn’t make a decision that may affect their relationship for the wrong reasons.

Not that Yuuri felt that waiting until morning would be enough to make a decision like allowing an affinity with Victor Nikiforov to remain.

How was he supposed to know what was the best decision when his entire relationship with Victor was a constant tsunami of feeling simultaneously right and wrong?

Yuuri was sure that if his own exhaustion hadn’t kicked in about half an hour after Wataru and Yuichi left, he wouldn’t have slept that night. As it was, he slept deeply as his cores, body, and mind recovered from what had happened to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a note for anyone who has read any of the other fics in the series or is curious about what these guys don't know: what happens here is directly connected to the beginning of Eye of the Beholder, the Teen Wolf Sterek fic already posted and complete. So, if you're liking this story and haven't read that one yet and are curious (because I have this lowkey hope that people will discover new fandoms to love with this series ^_^) I welcome you to check it out with the hope that it's another fic you enjoy.  
> Well, only one chapter left of this fic so see you next week with the final update.


	17. Agreement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Decisions and promises...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading. I came into this knowing crossovers tend to get less readers and I do understand not really having interest in reading characters from a fandom one isn't familiar with. But I will admit that I still had some struggle with wanting to rewrite it for the sake of introducing this fandom into the series without it being as heavy of a crossover as this one ended up being. But you can probably see with how the story progressed that it was very much reliant on it being a crossover. So, I got over it and here it is and I'm genuinely happy with it. And, I've said before that I really do hope that people give it a chance and it introduces them to new fandoms ^_^. After all, I'm not done introducing fandoms to the series and these guys have plenty to do in the series so they'll be back.  
> I really do appreciate everyone who reads, and I'm outright giddy or every kudo and comment. Each one means so much to me so thank you for those who take the time to leave that feedback for me. <3  
> Well, that's more than enough for the beginning note, so hope you enjoy the last chapter of Gaze of the Reaper.

Victor was nearby. Not in the same room but at least in the building. And the knowledge of his presence hadn’t been a gradual approach, like watching someone walk toward you, but was just suddenly there like a switch being turned on.

Out of everything that had happened to Yuuri since the Devas and U.E.A. agents had shown up, this might be one of the strangest.

Yuuri was already hyperaware of Victor, always had been. He didn’t need another layer added to it for the sake of his own sanity. He allowed a small smile of amusement at the thought.

He could feel what other people were feeling, have a part of him show up to anywhere he’d been or anyone he’d met, and perceive death and it was a connection to Victor Nikiforov that would be a threat to his sanity? He was weird.

His ankle fluttered a bit as his balance waned for just a bit, Yuuri automatically adjusting so that it didn’t affect his positioning.

He’d woken up at around five in the morning and hadn’t been able to go back to sleep, which was extremely unusual. He wasn’t a morning person. Victor was always awake before him and it took him time to really be awake once he was conscious.

Not this morning, not with everything that had happened.

So, he’d headed for Ice Castle, knowing that Nishigori was usually there in the early mornings taking care of various things that were difficult to handle when anyone else was around, especially his kids. Yuuri had still texted Nishigori to check and had gotten a reply right away telling him to get his ass on the ice if he needed it.

And when Yuuri had arrived – walking instead of taking his usual jog – Nishigori had taken one look at him, crossed his arms, and told Yuuri to take his time and he’d keep anyone he didn’t want around out.

Yuuri had said that wasn’t necessary but now he wondered if he should have asked for privacy. He didn’t quite feel ready to face anyone, even Victor, and he’d been on the ice for going on two hours. Then again, it was already past time that he and Victor would be working so Victor had given him time.

Yuuri smiled again as he thought that Victor had likely given him all the time he was capable of, impatient as Victor could be.

And he may be close but he was still out of sight. Nishigori might have intercepted him but Victor had proven plenty of times that he went where he wanted when he wanted. If he wanted to see Yuuri, it would happen no matter who said otherwise. The only one he would listen to about not seeing Yuuri was Yuuri if he indicated that he really wanted to be alone.

That wasn’t the case right now, though. Yuuri had gotten his time to himself and now the felt like he was ready to work things out with Victor about what they were going to do. They still had a few hours before Wataru left for the airport and Yuuri didn’t want to cut it too close.

He glided toward the access door to the rink and stepped off the ice, sliding on his blade guards before he made his way to the nearby bench so he could take his skates off. He had one unlaced and was pulling it off when the door from the locker room opened and Victor walked through, Makkachin at his heels until the poodle spotted Yuuri and then bounded over to him. Yuuri paused in unlacing his other skate to greet the dog and scratch behind his ears as Victor made his way over and sat down next to Yuuri.

That was comforting, Yuuri noticed. He was comforted that Victor didn’t put any distance between them, that he sat where he would before last night. It felt important.

“Good morning,” Yuuri said casually in greeting.

Victor looked at him for a few seconds before he grinned and then wrapped his arms enthusiastically around Yuuri’s shoulders, hugging him tightly. “Good morning, Yuuri!” he exclaimed.

Yuuri smiled at the continuation of a normal exchange between them.

Victor gave him one last brief squeeze before he let him go, allowing Yuuri the room he needed to take his other skate off.

As Yuuri was loosening his laces, he let his thoughts wander as he spoke them. “I actually felt it when you walked into the building. I just knew you were close. And, yeah, it was a little weird, but nothing weirder than some of the things I’m picking up from people lately. Then again, I also didn’t feel like I was intruding on anything by feeling it, which I get pretty often when it comes to my dispositions.”

“That was one of the reasons I didn’t mind keeping my core sealed,” Victor said and Yuuri looked toward him curiously. “Sure, I’m a Telepath and not a Reader, but I still felt like people should be allowed to be alone in their own heads. If they want to share, it should always be up to them. But before I was taught how to control it, I would be connecting with people without meaning to and hearing their thoughts like a Reader. It was…invasive, it felt wrong.”

Yuuri nodded, then realized something. “That’s the first I’ve heard what your disposition is.”

Victor paused for a second and then laughed, “Yeah, I guess it did sort of get overlooked. I guess after going over everything with the others, Shion is more convinced that it’s something I was able to do because of the affinity between our particular dispositions.”

“You know, I never had anything like that happen when I formed an affinity with Phichit. Get any sort of special abilities, I mean.”

“We needed it at the time. And you’re trained now, even if it is just a little. That makes a difference.” Victor gave him a wide smile before adding, “Or so says Shion.”

Yuuri nodded absently as he slid his other skate off his foot and set it aside. He then turned on the bench, folding his left leg in front of him so he could face Victor comfortably. Once he was settled, Victor let his hand rest on Yuuri’s leg, his fingers resting around Yuuri’s ankle. The touch, even over his clothes, was soothing to Yuuri. Victor was still as tactile as he’d ever been. He wasn’t retreating from Yuuri and Yuuri hadn’t felt like retreating.

But what did that mean for their affinity? Wanting to continue being together, wanting to touch, that wasn’t the same as Victor wanting to remain unsealed with an affinity with Yuuri.

“Can I ask you something?” Yuuri settled, allowing himself to hesitate while making sure he didn’t retreat.

“Yes.” Victor’s tone gave away that he probably knew exactly why Yuuri had asked.

“Would you have…did you…was it…” Yuuri couldn’t figure out how to word it, nervous that he would say something wrong just in how he asked.

Victor gave him a wide grin and squeezed at his ankle. “Just ask, Yuuri.”

“Are you only unsealed because of what happened? I mean, of course you had the seal removed because of what happened, but I mean would you have ever even thought of just having it removed for an affinity?” Yuuri couldn’t bring himself to actually voice “with me” even though he figured Victor heard that as well.

“Maybe. I mean, we both had our hands forced a little with all that happened since they showed up. It’s hard to say what could have happened without them. I was about two years off of recharging the seal and that’s just too far away to say what kind of decision I would have made then.”

That was fair. It’s not like Yuuri would have been any more certain about a decision regarding his cores two years from now. Even now after everything that had happened, he still couldn’t say that in two years he would choose to be sealed or not.

And there’s no telling whether the two of them would even be with each other in two years. They hadn’t discussed that.

And even if they let the unstable affinity between them right now become stronger, that didn’t mean anything for two years from now. They didn’t need to remain close to each other once the connection was stable. They could be on opposite sides of the world and it would remain intact, just like Yuuri’s affinity with Phichit.

Not that Yuuri wanted that.

He wanted to be close to Victor even as he knew that it may not happen with their respective careers following the Finals. After all, Yuuri was still very seriously considering this being his final season even if he hadn’t talked about it at all with Victor since his return from Russia.

Victor reached forward with his other hand and cupped Yuuri’s cheek gently, giving him a smile. “You know I can’t hear you when you don’t say anything.” His demeanor became more serious then, even as his tone remained light. “I’m making sure I keep a tight lid on my core, not letting it reach out for you like it wants to. I don’t want to intrude until we decide.” His smile widened. “And I figure that’s about the fastest way for the affinity to gain ground in stabilizing.”

Victor was still the same person he’d been before all this happened, Yuuri realized. He couldn’t say when he’d gotten the thought that it was otherwise. It was likely just some misguided thought that Victor would be different because Yuuri knew he was a user now. But that didn’t make sense because Victor had been a user all along so it wasn’t like there was anything different about him now.

And if Yuuri really thought about it, while Yuuri hadn’t concealed the fact that he was a user, it wasn’t something they had ever discussed or made any level of a hassle over. It just hadn’t been a big deal, not with them working together as coach and competitor or as friends and whatever their relationship was now.

And it actually wasn’t any more of a deal now, for Yuuri or Victor. Yuuri had forgotten that, gotten caught up in the little things like he was prone to do.

Yuuri was just grateful he’d happened to have the right thought to cut that off before it got too deeply ingrained in his mind. It could be really exhausting to work something out once it got too deeply implanted in his thought process.

So, Victor was still the same as he’d been before last night. And the “same Victor” was the person that had told Yuuri he wished he’d never retire when Yuuri asked him to be his coach until then. Was it really any surprise that he would be willing to remove a seal he’d had in place for however many years so he could be there for Yuuri? Was it too much further of a reach to believe that he would be willing to keep the seal off and let the haphazard affinity between them become something more, something that could define who they were to more than just each other?

“I really liked feeling you that close to me,” Yuuri admitted. “With how much I feel like I’m on my own, as much as I’ve had to do alone, to have you right there with me in some way that could only happen because it was us when I needed it the most…it was like finding another piece of my love that I’m still figuring out. I don’t want it to go away.”

That was as clear as Yuuri thought he would be able to make it. And even as he kept his gaze locked with Victor’s, he didn’t even feel his cheeks flushing like they normally would when making such a bold declaration to Victor. It was like something had clicked into place when it came to translating the confidence he could have on the ice to when he was off and dealing with real life.

Which, considering this moment felt like something he needed all the confidence in the world to get through, he would be grateful later when he wasn’t waiting for Victor’s response.

Victor smiled widely at him before he threw both arms around Yuuri’s shoulders and hugged him tightly, his face pressing into Yuuri’s neck above the collar of the sports jacket he’d worn while skating since he’d been pretty laid back.

“Good. I don’t want to lose that either. I don’t want to lose any part of you.” Victor pulled away enough for Yuuri to see the warm smile on the Russian’s face and Yuuri thought he might be kissed for a moment. “Though this sounded like another marriage proposal. Should I start keeping track?”

 _Now_ Yuuri blushed as he sat upright enough to make Victor’s arms relax from around his shoulders, though they just dropped down to rest at his waist instead.

Victor laughed, confirming that the moment had passed and they were back to normal. Just like that.

Yuuri noticed the small smile on his own face a few seconds later.

“We’ll work this afternoon. We should get back to the onsen if we want to work everything out with Wataru and Shion. They’ll be leaving soon.”

There was a certain…lack of intensity to Victor’s demeanor when he brought up their visitors. Whatever happened on this side of things last night, had it helped Victor clear some of his own feelings up concerning the Devas and U.E.A.? Or had he just allowed himself to see that whatever his past was with the organizations, it wasn’t what Wataru and Shion were? Either way, Yuuri was glad for the easing of tension in any measure.

He put on his shoes and talked with Nishigori briefly on their way out, letting him know that they would be back later. The man gave him a curious and suspicious look even as he nodded and they left, heading straight for the onsen.

When they arrived, Yuuri spotted Wataru, Shion, and Nezumi sitting at a table separated from the other few patrons as was normal for them. Victor and Yuuri headed to their table and sat down at the end as Shion gave them a smile in greeting, the agent looking rested and his usual self.

Yuuri took a quick glance around just to make sure he hadn’t missed the Paladin before asking, “Where’s Yuichi?”

There was a spike of amusement from Wataru before he answered. “Probably taking his shoes off. He tailed you when you left this morning and was keeping a loose guard on you.”

Yuuri really shouldn’t have been surprised that they hadn’t dropped their guard over him just because everything had worked out for them last night.

“I didn’t see him when I got to Ice Castle,” Victor commented, actually sounding like he was sulking, like he was bummed that he hadn’t noticed.

“It’s not like if Shion or I were watching him. Yuichi is a Paladin; if he doesn’t want to be seen, he isn’t.”

“First I’ve heard of them having some sort of disappearing act in their arsenal,” Nezumi muttered, receiving a glare from Wataru just as Yuichi entered the room and headed over to take his usual position at Wataru’s side.

“Well, it would become somewhat moot if everyone knew about it,” Yuichi replied, the sensation of amusement reaching Yuuri the only indication that he had that the Paladin was likely joking.

“Yuuri?” Shion asked and Yuuri turned his attention toward the agent. “How are you this morning?”

Yuuri took a few seconds to think over how he’d felt through the morning since waking up. “I’m alright. I’m still a little tired and my body feels really sore, like I just did the hardest workout of my life. And what I’m picking up with my Empathy is coming a going a bit more than normal, like it isn’t being consistent.”

“That’s good to hear. All of that is standard for extended use and exhaustion of a core’s power. And you likely drained both your Ghost and Empathy cores between projecting and your affinity forming. You will still be in the process of your core regaining its strength and so will probably feel tired and sore until tomorrow, depending on how quickly your cores naturally recharge. Though I believe your level of stamina and good health is a good indicator that you will recover on the quicker side. Victor, how are you?”

Yuuri was surprised about Shion asking Victor. It was usual for him to check in with Yuuri but not Victor.

As it was, Victor responded easily enough. “I’m fine. I’ve been keeping it completely in check since I woke up. I’ll ease up as the day goes on and I have the chance to remember the automatic restrictions I learned to have in place.”

“It’ll come back faster than you think,” Shion said with a smile, the easy tone he spoke in sounding so natural and genuinely supportive.

Wataru cut in before either of them could continue. “Then you’re staying unsealed?”

“Yes. Yuuri and I decided.” Victor sounded as certain as he always did.

But even so, Wataru still looked questioningly at Yuuri, who nodded agreement. Yuuri couldn’t tell if Wataru liked that they’d come to that decision or not.

After a short pause, Wataru continued. “This isn’t something you get to go back on. Once that affinity is stable, which probably won’t take long with how close you two already are and how much time you spend with each other, you won’t have the option anymore. People with active affinities can’t be sealed.”

“We know that and repeating it isn’t going to suddenly change our minds about it.”

“Good. If you’d hesitated at me pointing it out again, I would have sealed you anyway.” Wataru spoke confidently enough, but his emotions were all over the place. Yuuri got the sense that on some level, Wataru was disappointed that they had chosen for Victor to remain unsealed, for them to let this new connection between them remain. But that was weird since affinities were just about the only thing that Wataru seemed completely accepting of when it came to cores.

It likely had more to do with the circumstances of it forming, Yuuri realized. Perhaps Wataru believed it should have been allowed to happen more naturally.

Yuuri allowed a quick grin before he said, “Things between Victor and I, our histories, the progression of our relationship, and how we’ve come to know each other has always been a bit strange. How the affinity first formed between us doesn’t feel like it was wrong in any way.”

Shion leaned forward a bit, giving Wataru an intense look as he said, “And it isn’t our place to say otherwise, Wataru.”

Wataru looked toward Shion, a little surprised before he said a little nervously, “I wasn’t going to. I just meant that if they weren’t confident in their choice now, I would have questioned them further and made sure it was what they wanted. This is a lifetime decision we’re talking about with this affinity after all and there’s already plenty that’s happened here that was out of their control.”

Nezumi smirked at the Deva. “What, are you trying to convince us you're not the youngest person at the table?”

Wataru flushed and bit back, “What does that have to do with anything? You’re so irritating!” he finished and then gave a frustrated sigh as he crossed his arms.

The plate in front of Wataru slid to the left slightly as he moved and there was a flinch of tension from Nezumi but it passed as he realized that it was just a brief slip of control from the Deva and there wouldn’t be more with Wataru’s hands held still. Yuichi reached out and placed his hand on Wataru’s elbow and that seemed to calm him a little.

Shion spoke again, obviously noting and ignoring the exchange as he was practiced in moving past the irritation that his affinity partner was prone to causing. “If either of you need anything, please don’t hesitate to call us. We all have our areas of expertise and we will do everything we can to help you when we can. But I will also reiterate that unless there is an emergency that requires otherwise, we should avoid being in close proximity to you. And we will be the ones to determine if we should break that separation. For some reason, you are susceptible to connecting to Wataru and I when it comes to your uncontrolled projections. I don’t know if it is a matter of your Empathy core simply reaching out to our experience and being driven by your own emotions but we’ve already put you in danger twice. We can’t allow that to happen again if it can be helped.”

“I’d like to make one correction,” Yuuri said and Shion looked and felt surprised.

“What is it?” he asked slowly.

“If I learn how to control it, the projection that happens because I connect with someone, I get to help you find Hajime so you can catch him.”

Shion and Wataru exchanged surprised looks and Yuuri knew they were going to refuse him.

“I remember everything this time. I don’t know why I remember but I do. I know now what kind of person this guy is and if there’s something I can do to help you guys out I want to do it. But I know that I need to be able to control this ability or I’m just going to get in trouble again. So, if I figure out control, you let me help you.”

Nezumi let out a scoff as he placed his hands on the floor behind him and leaned his weight back. “Great, that’s just what we needed: a nondescript time limit on taking care of Hajime.”

“…What?” Yuuri asked, not completely getting what Nezumi was saying.

Nezumi gave him a flat look as he replied, “They have no reason to turn you down but they don’t want to put you in danger again. So, they’re going to accept while trying to take care of Hajime before you get that control down to their standards. And, before you get your hopes up too high, if you can’t prove absolute control, they can turn you down as a Deva and U.E.A. agent. They can and will pull authority on this if you aren’t up to par.”

It…sounded like Nezumi was actually challenging him to succeed.

He wondered if that thought showed in his expression because Nezumi gave him a little smirk and the slightest of nods.

Yuuri remembered then that Nezumi wasn’t as morally bound as Wataru, Yuichi, and Shion. He was wiling to work in the grey areas of situations more than the rest of them. Accepting a civilian placing themselves at risk apparently qualified to Nezumi.

As it was, Shion let out a heavy sigh and pulled at the hair behind his ear as he gave Nezumi a pointed look then returned his attention to Yuuri. “If you learn how to control that ability, we will accept your help in locating Hajime. I promise.”

“Yeah, we promise,” Wataru added, sounding equally displeased. Then there was a spike of amusement in him before he continued to say. “And as long as Victor agrees. Keep in mind that because of how your affinity formed, you will likely have a permanent hitchhiker in some manner every single time you project. The risk is going to be as much on him as it is on you.”

That…would be something Yuuri would have to work out with Victor later, he admitted as he nodded acceptance to Wataru’s counteroffer.

He was actually negotiating with a Deva over at some point in the future helping to track down an Oni.

His life was nowhere near what he expected it would be when these guys first showed up.

He didn’t actually mind, he quickly noted.

Even as they gathered their belongings and packed them away into a cab, all of them saying their goodbyes, Yuuri didn’t regret anything about what had happened over the past few weeks. Sure, he was glad to be able to focus back on his skating and the Finals quickly approaching, but at the same time he felt like he’d gained something in this that made him more ready to face the competition.

And, no, he didn’t mean the fledgling affinity between him and Victor. That was another matter completely.

He missed a quad flip in practice later that day when he had the thought that he should tell Phichit that he’d formed another affinity with someone and it was with Victor Nikiforov.

He could only imagine what Yurio would say when he found out.

Speaking of the affinity, as the day went on, Yuuri gradually became more and more aware of this sensation in the corner of his mind, this awareness of Victor at the edge of his senses. It was like when Victor had approached him that morning but clearer.

Victor was easing up the lockdown he had on his core and was allowing it to reach out to Yuuri so their affinity could start to stabilize.

Shion hadn’t been sure how long it would take. He’d said that it had taken a few months for his and Nezumi’s affinity to really be stable but they’d been working through a lot at the time and that had slowed progress down to a crawl.

That was alright. If it took days or months, it was fine with Yuuri. He just wanted what time he had with Victor and if that was enough for them to have an affinity that would endure over the distance that might end up coming between them with their respective careers, then that was all Yuuri could ask for.

Yuuri could accept anything he had to face in the future. He knew that with more certainty now than he ever had before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, while I do have the overall main plot planned out for the series, I'm open for ideas/prompt of side stories people might be interested in. I've actually just started posting one such side story for Nezumi and Shion that isn't connected to the Hajime plotline.  
> Thank you again for reading. Stay safe in your respective locations.  
> Kira Dattei


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